Shaun Midanik

Shaun Midanik is a doctoral candidate at the University of Toronto in the Department of Art, with a collaborative specialization in Book History and Print Culture. His research connects the fields of Art History and Book History through his study of Italian books of prints, bound groups of printed pictures that emerged as a new medium in the early modern period. As part of his dissertation project, Shaun established the Books of Prints Cataloging Project (booksofprints.omeka.net), which aims to record books of prints as the basis for developing a new cataloguing standard. His focus on a more dynamic early modern print culture has led to a diverse set of research interests related to books of prints, including virtual pilgrimage, drawing manuals, and emblem books. 

Shaun is the co-organizer of the Books of Prints Workgroup, which connects scholars, cataloguers, and other specialists whose work touches upon books of prints through bi-annual Zoom meetings. He previously held the Iter Fellowship at the Centre for Renaissance and Reformation Studies (CRRS) and currently holds a Library Research Grant at the Getty Research Institute (GRI). Shaun is the Marvin Gelber Fellow in Prints and Drawings at the Art Gallery of Ontario.

Selected Publications

• "Picture Bound: Customized Books of Prints and the Myth of the Ideal Series." In Customized Books in Early Modern Europe, 1400-1700, edited by Christopher Fletcher and Walter Melion. Leiden: Brill, 2023. (forthcoming)

Honours, Awards and Grants

• Art Gallery of Ontario - Marvin Gelber Fellowship in Prints and Drawings, 2022
• Getty Research Institute - Library Research Grant, 2022
• Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) Doctoral Fellowship, 2020
• Ontario Graduate Scholarship, 2019
• University of Toronto Mississauga Graduate Expansion Funds, 2019