Are Manuscript Facsimiles Still Viable?

Are traditional manuscript facsimiles, in paper and ink, still a viable form of scholarship, given the ease afforded by publication on the Internet? This paper suggests that facsimiles are indeed still viable, especially for works of literature that remain in copyright and are under the protection of working literary estates. A photographic reproduction of a document cannot offer the experience of handling the original, but facsimiles are as good a substitute as we have. Perhaps online scans will eventually supplant printed facsimiles, but that time has not yet arrived.