The Reader at Large: A Computational Approach to London, British Library, Cotton Caligula A.ii (Part One)

Abstract

Abstract This article draws on computational methods including multi-dimensional scaling and clustering to analyse the contents of the Middle English multi-text manuscript London, British Library, Cotton Caligula A.ii (Part One). It makes the argument that digital linguistic analysis can complement analogue scholarship on collections of this kind by providing new perspectives on the networks of intertextuality and thematic and linguistic resonance these groups of texts engender. In particular, it argues for the use of scatterplots and dendrograms as navigational tools in digital editions that create non-hierarchical frameworks within which readers can navigate the contents of multi-text manuscripts in flexible and self-directed ways.