One of the main attractions of this book was the cross interdisciplinary aspect of textual investigation, studying and sorting through archives not only from the archival studies context but also through a historical or literary context. This anthology edited by Smith and Stead gives an interesting platform to see the various approaches and challenges in the methodology of archival research such as understanding the private vs public view of the author, the writings through the perspective of getting to know the author, the integrity of the collections, and the boundaries of where and when one starts to view a collection as a whole. I believe this book successfully completes this tremendous feat in providing a study that explores various collections, authors and poets’ lives, and the connections between their work and our understanding of them through multiple channels of viewpoints, allowing a thorough analysis from the same perspectives as its intended audience of scholars.
From the start, the volume is clearly organized in four distinct parts: archival theory and textual production, authorial legacies and digital cultures, gender issues in the archive, and practical concerns of archival research and curatorship. Each article was well-chosen and well-supported for each core-theme represented in the book, and made understanding the complexity of the study in working with archival collections lighter and easier to comprehend and familiarize, it encourages scholars from various academic backgrounds to see different viewpoints in how to work with and understand the prominence of literary archives.
A primary example is the article on looking at archival theory under the microscope of archaeology, two areas of study that are not so related on the surface until more in depth consideration of the two areas, as they relate to collection analysis and creating a comprehensive understanding and management of the archival/archaeological collection (created works vs discovered specimens). The take away from the article is that in both disciplines, the process of how to understand a manuscript could be also seen as the way archaeology is approached, through context, material, temporal and relational contexts. Iterations of manuscripts are organic works, susceptible to change, not unlike the authors’ own thought processes in the scribbles between the lines.
Many good examples of authors’ works were used, some belonging to well-known writers such as Samuel Beckett and Sylvia Plath, and some lesser known but prominent in more local literary circles, namely Douglas Coupland and Elizabeth Jennings were also subjects of analysis. The use of these authors spoke to the outreach of a wide audience, shedding spotlight on lesser known literary works.
The majority of the articles in this anthology however, were on the methodologies applied to analogue records, with the exception of one article discussing archival scholarship in the digital age. I would have liked to read about these same methodologies or similar approaches or even new approaches to digital archive curatorship, and recent case studies by archivists or researchers who construct and build these digital collections from the Library of Congress Web Archive, Internet Archive’s Wayback Machine, and the British Library Archive, if any. However, I suppose this area is still quite fresh and ongoing with more than one player involved, including from an information technology perspective. I look forward to developments in the study of this area, digital archive research and curatorship.
As a whole, it delivers an important message to archival collection users, that to be aware and conscientious of the presented materials, to question their significance, organization, and application in how it was used and how it should be interpreted as a resource as well as a subject. The article which touched upon a Victorian biographer’s methodology and use of archives is a reminder to readers of how archival collections, as a resource and a subject should be treated and examined in research and curatorship.
This is an excellent example of work that seamlessly integrates multiple areas of study – history, archival studies, comparative literature, psychology, museum or curatorship studies, and more. Not only did Smith and Stead choose articles that supported the cause of the book but also chose appropriate selections of work that could speak to many disciplines. Easy to read, informative, and thought-provoking for those who appreciate the “added-value” in a collection, from the consideration in the articles to the overall theme of this book, it is a great contribution to literary archive research.
