Review by Choice Review
This is a faithful English rendering of Die Geburt des Archivs (2013). Perhaps too faithful in places: instead of cartularies, Dillon could have used collections, and archivology is not a word common to English dictionaries. (In reviews of the original German-language edition, Friedrich is credited with a "readable" and largely "jargon-free" style.) Friedrich approaches his topic from a cultural angle of epistemology in a well-structured text, as outlined in chapter 1. However, suggesting that archives were "born" in Europe between c. 1450 and 1800 is debatable. Friedrich fails to provide convincing justification of why France (which, like Italy and England, experienced the Renaissance) and Germany (which, despite printing and the Reformation, did not) would represent "Europe." The ambitious scope of both period and subject almost naturally results in myriad interesting fragments rather than a systematic or chronological account. The eight chapters--the shortest is 12 pages, the longest, 34 pages--are profusely documented with no fewer than 1,021 notes (42 pages) and an extensive bibliography (28 pages). Considering that the text runs to 200 pages, this is disproportionate, as is the index of only eight pages. Summing Up: Optional. Researchers and faculty. --Gaby Divay, emerita, University of Manitoba
Copyright American Library Association, used with permission.
Review by Choice Review
