Wednesday, May 25, 2016

Quiz time! What Fresh Hell Is This?

"You have to look at, like, 200 of the things. And then, suddenly, you read the 201st, and you say 'Oh! So that's what's going on!' And then you have to go back and check the first 200 again."

This quote, over lunch, from Mr. 3D, my frère d'une autre mère here in Blerg City (yes I'm back).

Archive-based historians, what kinds of records are we talking about?

8 comments:

Susan said...

I'd assume court records of some sort, where you suddenly get testimony that unlocks the crazy stuff that hadn't made sense.

Notorious Ph.D. said...

Nope!

Think: bulk.

Twinkle said...

Trying to figure out why Doge Dandolo thought those horses were an appropriate decoration for S Marco?

Anonymous said...

notarial records?

Notorious Ph.D. said...

DINGDINGDING!!! Anonymous wins!

Your prize: in the next post, I tell you how and why I have grown to hate these things with a passion.

Notorious Ph.D. said...

(And maybe why we can't live without them.)

Anonymous said...

I hear you. I hate them with a passion too, having spent two years sifting through the Venetian notarial archive.

Susan said...

I envy those with notarial records. That is all.