Visual Knowledge: Textual Iconography of the Quixote, a Hypertextual Archive

Two key obstacles have prevented the publication of a comprehensive collection or archive based on the textual iconography of the Quixote: 1) the rarity of and difficult access to the materials, and 2) the technical and financial difficulties in compiling and disseminating such an archive in print format. The advent of hypertext, digital libraries, and the Internet, among other technological factors of the information technology revolution, make the impossible dream of visualizing the Quixote a realizable goal. Nevertheless, there remain still considerable obstacles and challenges if the result is to be both effective and valuable as an educational tool and a research resource in the humanities.