Archives are considered to be collections of administrative, legal, commercial and other records or the actual place where they are located. They have become ubiquitous in the modern world, but emerged not much later than the invention of writing. Following Foucault, who first used the word archive in a metaphorical sense as "the general system of the formation and transformation of statements" in his "Archaeology of Knowledge" (1969), postmodern theorists have tried to exploit the potential of this concept and initiated the "archival turn". In recent years, however, archives have attracted the attention of anthropologists and historians of different denominations regarding them as historical objects and "grounding" them again in real institutions. The papers in this volume explore the complex topic of the archive in a historical, systematic and comparative context and view it in the broader context of manuscript cultures by addressing questions like how, by whom and for which purpose were archival records produced, and if they differ from literary manuscripts regarding materials, formats, and producers (scribes).

The dynamic but little-known story of how archives came to shape and be shaped by European culture and society

The notion of the author as the creator and therefore the first owner of a work is deeply rooted both in our economic system and in our concept of the individual. But this concept of authorship is modern. Mark Rose traces the formation of copyright in eighteenth-century Britain—and in the process highlights still current issues of intellectual property. Authors and Owners is at once a fascinating look at an important episode in legal history and a significant contribution to literary and cultural history.

In this witty, engaging, and challenging book, Carolyn Steedman has produced an originaland sometimes irreverentinvestigation into how modern historiography has developed. Dust: The Archive and Cultural History considers our stubborn set of beliefs about an objective material worldinherited from the nineteenth centurywith which modern history writing and its lack of such a belief, attempts to grapple. Drawing on her own published and unpublished writing, Carolyn Steedman has produced a sustained argument about the way in which history writing belongs to the currents of thought shaping the modern world. Steedman begins by asserting that in recent years much attention has been paid to the archive by those working in the humanities and social sciences; she calls this practice "archivization." By definition, the archive is the repository of "that which will not go away," and the book goes on to suggest that, just like dust, the "matter of history" can never go away or be erased. This unique work will be welcomed by all historians who want to think about what it is they do.

Andrew Piper grew up liking books and loving computers. While occasionally burying his nose in books, he was going to computer camp, programming his Radio Shack TRS-80, and playing Pong. His eventual love of reading made him a historian of the book and a connoisseur of print, but as a card-carrying member of the first digital generation—and the father of two digital natives—he understands that we live in electronic times. Book Was There is Piper’s surprising and always entertaining essay on reading in an e-reader world. Much ink has been spilled lamenting or championing the decline of printed books, but Piper shows that the rich history of reading itself offers unexpected clues to what lies in store for books, print or digital. From medieval manuscript books to today’s playable media and interactive urban fictions, Piper explores the manifold ways that physical media have shaped how we read, while also observing his own children as they face the struggles and triumphs of learning to read. In doing so, he uncovers the intimate connections we develop with our reading materials—how we hold them, look at them, share them, play with them, and even where we read them—and shows how reading is interwoven with our experiences in life. Piper reveals that reading’s many identities, past and present, on page and on screen, are the key to helping us understand the kind of reading we care about and how new technologies will—and will not—change old habits. Contending that our experience of reading belies naive generalizations about the future of books, Book Was There is an elegantly argued and thoroughly up-to-date tribute to the endurance of books in our ever-evolving digital world.

This volume of Albi Rosenthal's work was originally conceived as a small selection in celebration of his 85th birthday. It rapidly expanded to a larger volume as the range and depth of his scholarship, and the fascination of his material, became apparent. This more comprehensive collection is presented here in the belief that it will now also be of interest to a much wider audience Obiter Scripta spans the author's output of over sixty years, touching on many subjects on which he is an expert. There are specific studies on Mozart--the field in which he is pre-eminent--and on Monteverdi, Paganini, Haydn, Liszt, and Kodály. He also writes on music collecting and bibliography, fakes and frauds, discoveries, the perils of auctions, the earliest depiction of a musical instrument in a printed book, and anecdotes and coincidences. He is a Trustee of the Paul Sacher Foundation in Basel and describes how many of the Foundation's major acquisitions were secured. There is a section of tributes, and a number of articles arising from his lifelong interest in Nietzsche. Finally, there are some interviews in which, among other things, Albi talks about himself, his family, and his life in Oxford. Forced by the political situation to leave Germany, Albi Rosenthal had to abandon his hopes of an academic career. He has combined a lifetime of study and business, and in the course of doing so, has become the foremost authority in the field of music manuscripts while simultaneously pursuing academic work--not from an ivory tower, but from the hectic environment of an international businessman, commuting almost daily from Boars Hill to Belsize Park Gardens, with frequent visits to all parts of the world where music manuscripts are appraised, bought or sold.

This history of children's television describes its development since the earliest days when Muffin the Mule made his first appearance in 1946. It tells how many of the best-loved and most successful programmes originated, and writes about the people behind the scenes and in front - the producers, animators, presenters, actors and actresses. Among the many types of programmes discussed are puppets (from Sooty and Tingha and Tucker in the Fifties, to today's favourites), pre-school programmes such as Playschool and Rainbow, storytelling (especially the long-running Jackanory), drama, information programmes such as Blue Peter, and Saturday-morning programmes and entertainment.