Digital approaches to the capture and analysis of watermarks using the manuscripts of Isaac Newton as a test case

FAIN: HC-278119-21

Trustees of Indiana University (Bloomington, IN 47405-7000)
William R. Newman (Project Director: August 2020 to October 2020)
James R. Voelkel (Project Director: October 2020 to October 2020)
William R. Newman (Project Director: October 2020 to present)
Joel Klein (Co Project Director: October 2020 to present)
James R. Voelkel (Co Project Director: October 2020 to present)

A research project on identifying and analyzing watermarks in digitized collections using watermarks found in Isaac Newton’s manuscripts as a case study. The UK partner, the University of Cambridge is requesting £199,929 from the Arts and Humanities Research Council.

This project combines the expertise of the British National Archives, King's College Cambridge, the Cambridge University Library, the École Nationale des Chartes (Sorbonne), the Huntington Library, the Science History Institute, Peterhouse College Cambridge, and Indiana University in an innovative attempt to devise new methods of digital watermark capture and analysis by means of machine learning, using Isaac Newton's extensive manuscript corpus as a test platform.

Associated Products

Infrared light box (Equipment)
Name: Infrared light box
Description: Huntington Chief Photographer John Sullivan built a lightbox for infrared photography using infrared security lights and clear plexiglass.
Location: San Marino, CA
Year: 2021

Chasing the Clues in Isaac Newton’s Manuscripts (Article)
Title: Chasing the Clues in Isaac Newton’s Manuscripts
Author: James R. Voelkel
Abstract: Distillations is a magazine for the general public, and the article described various methods humanist scholars use to order and date otherwise undated manuscript material. The article included citation analysis and ink analysis (not included in this project) as well as the watermark research and artificial intelligence supported by this grant.
Year: 2021
Primary URL: https://sciencehistory.org/distillations/chasing-the-clues-in-isaac-newtons-manuscripts
Primary URL Description: This is the URL for an online article in the Science History Institute's publication Distillations.
Access Model: Oepn access
Format: Other
Periodical Title: Distillations
Publisher: Science History Institute

Watermarks Research Database (Database/Archive/Digital Edition)
Title: Watermarks Research Database
Author: Indiana University Project Team
Abstract: The purpose of the research database is to allow the comparison and querying of the images of the watermarks so that researchers will be able to compare these watermarks to enable them to determine possible chronology of Isaac Newton's Works.
Year: 2021
Primary URL: https://alchemy.sitehost.iu.edu/newton
Primary URL Description: A link to the website that is the frontend to the research database.
Access Model: Open access through the World Wide Web.

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