The Specter of the Archive
Political Practice and the Information State in Early Modern Britain
Published on 24. January 2024
Book
Hardback
320 pages
978-0-226-82595-3 (ISBN)
Description
An exploration of the proliferation of paper in early modern Britain and its far-reaching effects on politics and society.
We are used to thinking of ourselves as living in a time when more information is more available than ever before. In The Specter of the Archive, Nicholas Popper shows that earlier eras had to grapple with the same problem-how to deal with too much information at their fingertips.
He reveals that early modern Britain was a society newly drowning in paper, a light and durable technology whose spread allowed statesmen to record drafts, memoranda, and other ephemera that might otherwise have been lost, and also made it possible for ordinary people to collect political texts. As original paperwork and copies alike flooded the government, information management became the core of politics. Focusing on two of the primary political archives of early modern England, the Tower of London Record Office and the State Paper Office, Popper traces the circulation of their materials through the government and the broader public sphere. In this early media-saturated society, we find the origins of many issues we face today: Who shapes the archive? Can we trust the pictures of the past and the present that it shows us? And, in a more politically urgent vein: Does a huge volume of widely available information (not all of it accurate) risk contributing to polarization and extremism?
We are used to thinking of ourselves as living in a time when more information is more available than ever before. In The Specter of the Archive, Nicholas Popper shows that earlier eras had to grapple with the same problem-how to deal with too much information at their fingertips.
He reveals that early modern Britain was a society newly drowning in paper, a light and durable technology whose spread allowed statesmen to record drafts, memoranda, and other ephemera that might otherwise have been lost, and also made it possible for ordinary people to collect political texts. As original paperwork and copies alike flooded the government, information management became the core of politics. Focusing on two of the primary political archives of early modern England, the Tower of London Record Office and the State Paper Office, Popper traces the circulation of their materials through the government and the broader public sphere. In this early media-saturated society, we find the origins of many issues we face today: Who shapes the archive? Can we trust the pictures of the past and the present that it shows us? And, in a more politically urgent vein: Does a huge volume of widely available information (not all of it accurate) risk contributing to polarization and extremism?
Reviews / Votes
"Popper's focus on the keepers and users of the records of the Tower of London and the newly formed State Paper Office gives us a brilliant new perspective on statecraft in England, ca. 1559-1700. Greater attention to creating and managing archives changed political practice; skills in paperwork became grounds for advancement and archives were plumbed for arguments to support the full range of political causes of the day, transforming the role of information in governance in ways that still resonate today." * Ann Blair, Harvard University * "This powerful and engaging book offers a bold account of why practices of information management should matter to early modern historians. The Specter of the Archive demands very serious attention, and it will surely stimulate a vigorous debate and a wealth of new research." * Jason Peacey, University College London * "This is a thought-provoking book on issues of considerable historical significance and great contemporary resonance." * Times Literary Supplement * "Stellar. . . Popper's goal. . . is to investigate the momentous transformation of central political authority in England from the mid-sixteenth to early eighteenth century in terms of what Popper calls a new 'regime of inscription' (6) . . . . The Specter of the Archive provides splendidly detailed evidence of how the transformation played out." * American Historical Review * "The book is comprehensive and detailed. . . [Popper] demonstrate[s] the scale of record-keeping and sharing in early modern England, as well as the appetite for information in a period when the state was increasingly concerned with the people and the people with the state." * The Historian *More details
Language
English
Place of publication
Chicago
United States
Publishing group
The University of Chicago Press
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Illustrations
20 halftones
Dimensions
Height: 229 mm
Width: 152 mm
Thickness: 28 mm
Weight
594 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-226-82595-3 (9780226825953)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Person
Nicholas Popper is associate professor of history at William & Mary and the author of Walter Ralegh's "History of the World" and the Historical Culture of the Late Renaissance, also published by the University of Chicago Press.
Content
List of Illustrations
Acknowledgments
Introduction
1: Archivization
2: Pump and Circulation
3: Institutions Reimagined
4: Shared Practice and Rival Visions of the State
5: Information Warfare
6: Centralization and Orchestration
Epilogue: The World of the Archive
List of Abbreviations
List of Manuscripts and Manuscript Collections Cited
Notes
Bibliography
Index
Acknowledgments
Introduction
1: Archivization
2: Pump and Circulation
3: Institutions Reimagined
4: Shared Practice and Rival Visions of the State
5: Information Warfare
6: Centralization and Orchestration
Epilogue: The World of the Archive
List of Abbreviations
List of Manuscripts and Manuscript Collections Cited
Notes
Bibliography
Index