Information, Medium & Society: Twenty-Fourth International Conference on Publishing Studies

Abstract

The rhinoceros that appeared in Albrecht Dürer’s woodcut of 1515 can be considered emblematic for how data spread through the information landscape of the early modern press. From its early appearance in a printed broadsheet with both textual and visual guarantees about the reliability of its image, the rhinoceros soon made its way into other genres such as natural histories, books of prodigies, imperial propaganda, and travel narratives where it served as a cipher of remote destinations. While the published contexts in which it appeared were surprisingly diverse, with genres often expanding their boundaries to accommodate it, the visual sign solidified into an iconic image that varied little. This common visual denominator allows information researchers to see how competing data claims that cropped up around the printed image could expand the contexts in which it appeared. The rhinoceros can be considered a disruptor for the way in which it transgressed both geographic borders, as well as a boundaries of published genres.