Print Me a Manuscript! Facsimiles from the Institute of European Art History The Facsimile. Imitated – Preserved – Questioned
[...] that which withers in the age of mechanical reproduction is the aura of the work of art.
Walter Benjamin, The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction [1935], translated by Harry Zohn, in: Illuminations, ed. Hannah Arendt, New York 1969.
This observation by the early twentieth-century cultural theorist Walter Benjamin can be applied to describe one’s encounter with a facsimile. The original artwork’s aura – that is, the presence and power it holds for viewers on account of its uniqueness – cannot be simulated even by a perfect reproduction. If, for Benjamin, aura derives from an object’s material and historical singularity, then a replica, no matter how faithful, can never succeed in conveying this effect.
But is this the standard by which to assess the value of a facsimile? In practice, we have seen that the facsimile goes beyond mere imitation: reconstructing fragmented manuscripts, recreating bindings to improve on the clarity of the original, etc. In this way, the facsimile carries a special potential to make book culture tangible while leaving the delicate manuscript itself unendangered, to offer a haptic experience – whether of a monumental volume or of the smallest personal book, whether leafing through pages or observing interplays of text and image. In fact, the production of a facsimile is often occasioned by in-depth scholarly research into the manuscript in question – a fact that further attests to the capacity of the copy to shed light on, rather than detract from, the value and character of the historical artifact.
Accompanying this departure from sheer imitation, however, marketing strategies on the part of a facsimile’s publisher can lead to questionable decisions.