Enjoying Archives - David Iredale

BRITAIN’S ARCHIVAL TREASURES cannot be equalled for antiquity, variety, continuity and content. The past decade has seen many changes in their whereabouts, not least because of local government reorganisation, and a great increase in their use by those engaged on an ever-widening range of types of historical research. History students, local historians and genealogists all need to know what records survive, where they are kept, how to gain access, then how to read and interpret them. For anyone interested in ar-chives, documents and research into primary sources, this book is the most up-to-date and comprehensive single guide available.

The first edition of Enjoying Archives won international acclaim and was awarded the Leland Prize in 1974 by the Society of American Archivists. This new edition, completely revised and drawing upon the latest research, incorporates much additional information and details of changes in the national repositories and the local record offices. It describes the vast and unexpected range of documents to be found in provincial repositories, such as cathedral archives and the parish chest, the municipal muniments room and company safe, often neglected even by professional historians. The book guides the searcher through the complex patchwork of overlapping authorities-regional, county, city, borough, health board, university and others-that protect the nation’s heritage of local records.

The reader is then conducted through the intricacies of archival institutions, research methods and historical interpretation, and initiated into the mysteries of palaeography, chronology, diplomatic, forgery, conser-vation, scribal materials, clerical practices and administrative structures. Specific documents are fully explained, such as wills, deeds, entails, inquisitions (ad quod damnum and post mortem), letters (patent and close), ledgers, licences, leases and logs. A bibliography and an up-to-date list of record repositories and useful addresses throughout Britain complete the work’s exhaustive coverage, wherein Dr. Iredale draws upon a life-of experience as an archivist and historian to start the newcomer or to help the more experienced searcher on his way to enjoying archives.