'The book is a tremendous contribution to the history of archives and of early modern Europe.' Francis X. Blouin Jr., American Historical Review
Foreword: writing the history of archives; 1. Introduction: records, tools and archives in Europe to 1700; 2. Archival history: literature and outlook; Part I. The Work of Records (1200– ): 3. Probative objects and Scholastic tools in the High Middle Ages; 4. A late medieval chancellery and its books: Lisbon, 1460–1560; 5. Keeping and organizing information from the Middle Ages to the sixteenth century; 6. Information management in early modern Innsbruck, 1490–1530; Part II. The Challenges of Accumulation (1400– ): 7. The accumulation of records and the evolution of inventories; 8. Early modern inventories: Habsburg Austria and Würzburg; 9. Classification: the architecture of knowledge and the placement of records; 10. The formal logic of classification: topography and taxonomy in Swiss urban records, 1500–1700; Part III. Comprehensive Visions and Differentiating Practices (1550– ): 11. Evolving expectations about archives, 1540–1650; 12. Registries: tracking the business of governance; Part IV. Rethinking Records and State Archives (1550– ): 13. Understanding records: new perspectives and new readings after 1550; 14. New disciplines of authenticity and authority: Mabillon's diplomatics and the ius archive; 15. Conclusion: the era of chancellery books and beyond.