The practice of documentary editing is concerned with the publication of editions of letters, diaries, public papers, and other forms of documentary evidence. The materials contained within these editions are intended to function as historical and cultural evidence. In this role, documentary publications operate as surrogates for original sources. However, though these published reproductions are intended to function in the same way as the originating source, documentary editions are unique objects in their own right. Editors of these works make choices regarding the selection, presentation, and publication of the documentation. These choices determine the scope of these published collections, their physical form, and the reliability and authenticity of the materials that they contain.
The choices that editors make have their basis in editorial theory and editorial method. Editorial theory consists of the ideas, attitudes, and beliefs that influence the procedures for editing texts. Editorial methods, guided by editorial theory, are the frameworks developed by editors, that when applied, determine how documents are edited, and the editions produced. Theory and method are the supporting elements of the practice of documentary editing.
Though the practice of documentary editing within the United States dates to the 18th century, the foundations of the modern editing that defines current scholarship, can only trace its origins to the publication of Volume I. of Julian P. Boyds The Papers of Thomas Jefferson, a project articulated in 1943.
This dissertation is an examination of these foundations. The period 1943 -1970 represents a formative period of modern historical documentary editing, which can best be defined as the early modern period of historical documentary editing. During this period, documentary editors were involved in the development of new approaches for creating documentary editions, were active the refinement and re-articulation of previous methods, and redefined the role and function of documentary editions.
Through an examination of editorial thought and practice, published documentary editions, and editorial contexts, this study documents the currents of editorial thought that were present during the early modern period of editing and defines the nature of their influence on the process of documentary editing, and the creation documentary editions.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:PITT/oai:PITTETD:etd-07062011-035305 |
| Date | 08 July 2011 |
| Creators | Riter, Robert Barnet |
| Contributors | Richard J. Cox, PhD, Bernadette G. Callery, PhD, Ronald J. Zboray, PhD, Geoffrey C. Bowker, PhD |
| Publisher | University of Pittsburgh |
| Source Sets | University of Pittsburgh |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Source | http://etd.library.pitt.edu/ETD/available/etd-07062011-035305/ |
| Rights | unrestricted, I hereby certify that, if appropriate, I have obtained and attached hereto a written permission statement from the owner(s) of each third party copyrighted matter to be included in my thesis, dissertation, or project report, allowing distribution as specified below. I certify that the version I submitted is the same as that approved by my advisory committee. I hereby grant to University of Pittsburgh or its agents the non-exclusive license to archive and make accessible, under the conditions specified below, my thesis, dissertation, or project report in whole or in part in all forms of media, now or hereafter known. I retain all other ownership rights to the copyright of the thesis, dissertation or project report. I also retain the right to use in future works (such as articles or books) all or part of this thesis, dissertation, or project report. |
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