History of Archival Practice

Paul Delsalle is Professor of Modern History at the Université de Franche-Comté, France, specialising in the editing of sixteenth- and seventeenth-century documents. Between 1990 and 1995 he was Lecturer in Archival Studies at the University of Haute-Alsace in Mulhouse, France.Margaret Procter is Senior Lecturer in Record and Archive Studies at the University of Liverpool, UK, and previously worked as a professional archivist. She has worked with the International Council on Archives for over 25 years,most recently as Editor of its multilingual journal Comma.

• Preface to the English EditionIntroduction to the French Edition1. The Ancient World2. The Classical World: from Greek City States to the Roman Empire3. Archives and Archival Practices in Asia and Africa: from Antiquity to the Eighteenth Century4. Archives and Archival Practices in the Americas up to the Eighteenth Century5. In the Chanceries and Muniment Rooms of Medieval Europe, Fifth to Fifteenth Centuries6. Buildings and Equipment in Western Europe: Late Antiquity to the Seventeenth Century7. The Defining Era: Simancas, the Habsburgs and the Sixteenth Century8. Bureaucracy and Archival Centralisation in Early Modern Europe9. Being an Archivist in Early Modern Europe10. Methods and Techniques for Classification and Arrangement: Fifteenth to Eighteenth Centuries11. Legislation, Literature and Practice in the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries12. Buildings and Readers, Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries13. Archives Destroyed, Protected and Reconstructed: Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries14. The Rise of a Profession, Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries15. From Mutual Assistance to International Networks, Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries16. Conclusion: the Value of the Historical PerspectiveAfterword to the English Edition

"A readable and well-organized synthesis…. [this book] ought to be essential reading for anyone seeking the nearest approximation of a “global archival history” currently available in English"- Eric C. Stoykovich, University of Maryland, US"It reflects much of the latest scholarship on all periods of archival history from ancient Mesopotamia to the twentieth century; it covers an impressive range of topics in a very small space; and, as the first and only monograph of its kind in English, it fills a long-standing void in professional literature. If it succeeds in provoking new interest in its subject matter, or encouraging its readers to undertake further research, it will have served its purpose admirably."- Geoffrey Yeo, University College, London, UK"For anyone interested in the historical development of archival practice or in the variety of perspectives available through the lens of international or global comparisons, A History of Archival Practice is a welcome addition to the growing literature on archival history."- Rand Jimerson, Western Washington University, US "A History of Archival Practice, Margaret Procter, senior lecturer in record and archive studies at the University of Liverpool, UK, provides a beautifully rendered revision and translation of Delsalle’s chronicle of power and control for an anglophone audience."-Christopher M. Laico, Columbia University, US"...Margaret Procter’s translation of this text by Professor Paul Delsalle is very much to be welcomed....I think the book has great potential value and undoubtedly fills a big gap in the extant literature."-Elizabeth Shepherd, University College London, UK" The book is therefore ideally suited, and intended, as an overview work on the development of the archiv