2. Publishing, Editing, and Their Digital Transformation

This chapter focuses on literary texts. It discusses the shifts in text dissemination brought about by publishers in the European context. Publishers became essential professionals in the book market during the 18th and 19th centuries: this chapter examines how they contributed to shaping oeuvres of great authors, illustrated by the two examples of German writers Goethe and Tieck. It then bridges the gap to digitisation processes of modern textual heritage, examining the changes created by the digital medium. It discusses ways of representing text in a digital context, explaining in more detail how to transform textual content from an image form (a scan) into text formats, and ultimately delineates criteria to define quality of digital text relevant for cultural heritage.