Database of Mid-Victorian Illustrations

A database which contains the records and images of 868 literary illustrations published in or around 1862, providing bibliographical and iconographical details, as well as the images themselves.

The Database of Mid-Victorian Illustration (DMVI) contains records and images of 868 literary illustrations that were published in or around 1862, providing bibliographical and iconographical details, as well as the ability for users to view images at exceptionally high quality.dmvi

The original database is the culmination of a three-year project, based in Cardiff University’s Centre for Editorial and Intertextual Research, and funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC). The aim of the project was to examine the feasibility of developing an online database application that would allow users to view images at high quality, as well as providing access to images by accurate bibliographic classifications and an appropriate iconographic taxonomy.

In December 2010 the project was awarded further funding as part of the AHRC’s Digital Equipment and Database funding programme. The purpose of this additional funding was to rebuild DMVI as a more technologically sustainable system and develop a generic, Open Source version of the database system called DiCE (Digital Image Curation Environment) for use by other organisations. The Digital Humanities Institute acted as the technical developers for this work. The new DMVI preserves in every detail the vision of its original creators as well as a number of enhancements under their guidance.

Website

Project Team

  • Prof. Julia Thomas (University of Cardiff)
  • Dr Anthony Mandal (University of Cardiff)
  • Prof. David Skilton (University of Cardiff)
  • Dr Tim Killick (University of Cardiff)
  • Matthew Groves (Developer – The Digital Humanities Institute)