Matthew Battles Explained

Matthew Battles (born 1968) is a writer, artist, and since 2022 the editor of Harvard’s Arnold Arboretum magazine, Arnoldia.^[1] Until 2022 he was the associate director of metaLAB at Harvard University.^[2] Battles is the author or co-author of six books, most of which are on the topics of writing or libraries.^[3] He was named a Library Journal Mover and Shaker in 2004.^[4] He has been called "a gifted stylist" by the Christian Science Monitor which commended his "beautiful writing about writing."^[5]

Battles also sees the institution of the library as more than just the building's contents. He headed a team which created a data visualization of the printing locations of books published in early-modern Europe, shown over time.^[6] He also worked with artist Sarah Newman on the video installation Your Story Has Touched My Heart which drew heavily on Harvard's photo archives.^{[7] [8]} His "feral copyright project" at metaLAB looked into how copyright is lived and understood by regular people.^[9]

Personal life

Battles was raised in raised in Petersburg, Illinois. He received a B.A. in anthropology from the University of Chicago in 1992, and an M.A. in creative writing from Boston University in 1996. He is married and has one son and one daughter.

Bibliography

• Library: an Unquiet History (Norton, 2003)
• Widener: Biography of a Library (Widener Library, 2004)
• The Sovereignties of Invention (Red Lemonade, 2012)
• The Library Beyond the Book (with Jeffrey Schnapp, 2014)
• Palimpsest: A History of the Written Word (Norton, 2015)
• TREE (Bloomsbury, 2017)

Notes and References

1. Web site: MATTHEW BATTLES . 2022-08-13 . MATTHEW BATTLES . en-US.
2. Web site: Matthew Battles . Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society . Harvard University . 2 January 2020.
3. Web site: Washburn. Michael. "Palimpsest" by Matthew Battles . BostonGlobe.com . 2018-08-01 . 2020-01-02.
4. Web site: Journal . Library . Matthew Battles - Movers & Shakers 2004 . Library Journal . 2010-05-21 . 2020-01-02.
5. Web site: The Christian Science Monitor . 'Palimpsest' beautifully charts the history of writing . The Christian Science Monitor . 2015-07-29 . 2020-01-02.
6. Web site: Baldegg . Kasia Cieplak-Mayr von . The Explosion of 15th Century Printing: A Data Visualization . The Atlantic . 2012-12-05 . 2020-01-02.
7. Web site: At metaLAB, curiosity meets whimsy . Harvard Gazette . 2016-06-03 . 2020-01-02.
8. Web site: Your Story Has Touched My Heart . Harvard Art Museums . 2016-05-25 . 2020-01-02.
9. Web site: Ireland. Corydon . Wedding digital with traditional – Harvard Gazette . Harvard Gazette. 2012-08-15 . 2020-01-02.