The Specter of the Archive - by Nicholas Popper (Paperback)

About the Book

"From the sixteenth century forward, the volume of paper in Britain grew enormously. Cheaper than parchment, it allowed statesmen of the time to record drafts, memoranda, and other ephemera that might have otherwise been lost to a wax tablet. And as the volume of original paperwork ballooned, the number of copies grew still further: secretaries took down version after version of letters, records, policy proposals, and more. There was no longer a singular source of records, but many archives-and the proliferation of paper transformed political dynamics. Access to particular written material became a means to establish authority and solidify networks of power. The broad availability and use of paper amounted to an early modern media revolution. Focusing on two of early modern England's primary political archives, the Tower of London Record Office and the State Paper Office, Nicholas Popper traces the circulation of their materials through government and the broader public sphere. In this early media-saturated society, many of the same issues that we face today arose: who shapes the archive? Can we trust the picture of the past and the present that it shows us? How do we decide what to preserve, what to copy and disseminate, and what to toss? And, in a more politically urgent vein: Does a huge volume of information promote political polarization and extremism?"--

Book Synopsis

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?

Review Quotes

"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"

"This is a thought-provoking book on issues of considerable historical significance and great contemporary resonance."-- "Times Literary Supplement"

"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"

About the Author

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.