The idea of forming a research group on Franklin Book Programs has been a major concern since I started the Coldbihot research project. I first mentioned this in 2016 (here) because, having worked with Franklin archives, it became immediately clear to me that a collective effort was needed to process not only the Franklin’s massive archive but also address its global operation. With the help of Abdel-Wahab Khalifa of Cardiff University, we first identified people who have published or plan to work on Franklin. We first sent an invitation in December 2021. Due to the pandemic, the first plan to meet did not work.
Finally, we had our first meeting today. We had the pleasure of talking to five people (see here) who all welcomed the idea. As a result, I am happy to announce that Franklin Research Group is now created. The objectives of this group are:
- To build a network of people working on Franklin to share resources and help one another, etc.;
- To gauge people’s interest in contributing to an edited volume;
- To explore the possibility of applying for collaborative funding with different strands.
If you are interested to join this group, please get in touch as we continue to develop the idea and explore possibilities for networking, collaboration and developing an exciting research field.
Cold Books in Hot Lands 