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This essay considers Arturo Islas's posthumously published novel, La Mollie and the King of Tears (1996), arguing that an examination of its "archival remains"—its drafted and rejected material found in Islas's archive—offers compelling evidence of the text's anxious resistances to bodily, narrative, and cultural annihilation. Drawing on textual scholarship that prioritizes notions of texts as "fluid" or "in process" as well as on theories of queer and asycnhronous temporalities, I argue for a reading of the novel as haunted by its erasures and absences, and for a reading practice that more purposefully imagines the role of the body—of the author, of the text, and of the reader— in constituting and reconstituting the narrative. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tony Harrison’s self-fashioning would seem to be a relatively self-evident aspect of his poetry, but this essay uses the rich variety of materials in the poetry archives at the University of Leeds to consider how his identity as a poet has been constructed throughout his life as a writer. The essay’s distinctive aspect lies in its analysis of his accumulated archive, including his numerous notebooks and his correspondence. Even more particularly, this article reflects on how the accumulation, handling and presentation of the archive by Harrison himself has contributed to and has reflected his sense of himself as a poet. In this regard, the essay will offer a new perspective on his creative processes and will initiate critical discussion as to the role and significance of an individual poet’s archive in the making of a poetic identity. In this aspect, Harrison’s self-fashioning will also be seen as part of a specific historical phenomenon in the post-War generation of male poets. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The article offers the author's thoughts about the paradox of writing a biography. She states that biography often begins in death, which inspires the writing of biography. The author talks about writing biographies as a way to respect the lives of her subject through dissecting every biography she could obtain and studying endnotes and footnotes to find out the whereabouts of archival and other documented sources.

For centuries, the city of Naples was a meeting point for musicians from different parts of Italy and Europe. Particularly during the two centuries of Spanish, and subsequent Austrian, domination, from the early 16th to the early 18th centuries, the intense circulation of music and musicians gave rise to the reputation of Naples as an important musical centre. However, an organic reconstruction of the musical activities, and especially of the movement of musicians between different institutions, both civil and religious, is still lacking. The 'Musico Napolitano' online biographical index, a database to be hosted by the University of Fribourg, aims to gather and establish connections between the large amount of varied biographical data contained in sources such as chronicles, account books, deeds, institutional documents, correspondence etc. Information is classed in different indices, including transcribed names (as in the source), standardized names, institutions and professions (a 'fuzzy search' function permits retrieval of data despite the different spellings of personal names in historical sources). The development of personalized visualizations of data subsets (for example, using the city map) is also envisaged. The 'individuals' appearing in the database are not only musicians in a strict sense (singers, instrumentalists, composers, choirmasters), but also those belonging to those related professions (librettists, impresarios etc.) that are essential to the reconstrution of the network of musical and theatrical activities in Naples. A continually updated simple reference index, open to further contributors, and giving access to detailed biographical information for each person, allows the mapping of the presence, integration and mobility of music personnel in the urban texture of Naples. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the ubiquity of digital phones and cameras, our memory institutions will need to ingest an increasingly large number of born-digital media, much of it coming from personal archives. The high volume of this material will force collections to find smart ways to automate appraisal/selection, metadata assignment, and standardization of formats, or to convince contributors to do so. This article reports on ideas and methods developed by the group Activist Archivists to automate selection, metadata collection, and standardization of the born-digital media documenting the Occupy movement. Techniques include employing automatic time/date/location stamping, analyzing social media sites, producing guidelines for contributors, and asking for community involvement in selecting the material perceived as having the most enduring value. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on the history of author Henry James' archives and correspondence. After James' death, he left his personal papers in the care of his brother philosopher William James' family, specifically his sister-in-law Alice Howe Gibbens James and his nephew Harry James. Percy Lubbock, an Englishman of letters and friend of Henry James, was chosen to edit the correspondence in 1916, but World War I delayed publication until 1920. After the death of his mother in 1922, Harry James allowed scholar Leon Edel access to the archives in 1932, which resulted in the "Life of Henry James" in five volumes published between 1953 and 1972.

The article discusses the common archival description of diaries and richer portrayals often provided by academics in other disciplines. A description of the form and content of three women's diaries held by the Hudson's Bay Company Archives (HBCA) and the Archives of Manitoba is provided. The difference between archival and nonarchival description of these diaries suggests that archivists need to use an expanded notion of provenance and reexamine what constitutes relevant contextual information for personal records. Archives can implement changes to their descriptive systems that would offer users with much more information about the provenance of personal records.

The article focuses on the potential advantages and problems associated with lifelogging. Lifelogging is the comprehensive recording of personal life experiences using computing technologies such as infrared cameras, scanners and other desktop devices. Similar to filling a time capsule, recording all life events could provide opportunities for introspection, preserve family histories or enhance personal security. Access to such information could raise concerns regarding privacy, the impact on interpersonal relationships and the ability to revisit past conduct.

The article presents an exploration into the biographical information and resource of the sale catalogue for the library of British author Hester Lynch Piozzi. An analysis of several footnotes and other circumstantial information gathered from the documents is presented and used to outline more information on the life of the writer.

The article examines the biography of Jean-Babtiste Camille Corot, compiled by Alfred Robaut and Étienne Moreau-Nélaton, published in the catalogue raisonné in 1905. Robaut first met Corot in around 1853 through his father in law Constant Dutileux, a fellow landscape painter and Corot's close friend. Being passionate for the art of Corot, Robaut tracked down the artist's works. Robaut gave his material about Cobot to Moreau-Nélaton, who ultimately rote the biography, made changes to the catalogue, and deliver the archive to the national library.

The article presents information about the sources that were referred by biographer Anthony Wood while writing the book "Athenac Oxonienses" on the life of Nicholas Hill, noted British philosopher, poet, astrologer, alchemist and atomist. While citing various biographical works on Hill's life, the main focus here is kept on Wood's book. Wood's book has been examined by literary critic and author Hugh Trevor-Roper in his essay "Nicholas Hill, the English Atomist," published in 1987. In the said book, Wood has noted about Hill's tour to Italy with Lord Oxford. This has been contradicted by Trevor-Roper. Wood had also informed that Hill fled into Holland and died in exile at Rotterdam, the Netherlands, around 1610. Wood, reportedly, had discovered much information about Hill's life from the earliest version (1564-1614) of "Registrum Matriculorum." Wood had retrieved the date of Hill's entry into Oxford University, his college, his place of origin, his social class, his age at entry and the approximate year of his birth.

The article focuses on the effects of photography on the notion of personal archives. Criticism of photography seems unwilling to deal with the effects of photography on the constitution of the private or personal archive. Moreover, photograph has been an important medium by which modernity indoctrinates its subjects, and it never ceases to teach people how to play their roles as citizens of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. The ubiquity of the family photograph prevents people from thinking about photography in general, as well as about the relationship of this medium of mechanical reproducibility to the past.

The article discusses the significance of diaries in gathering art history. It is the author's view that diaries to historians are considered most prized sources of detailed information kept by an observant and well-connected person. Information that could be gathered from a diary can be classified as fresh, immediate and direct. It is inferred that these data are more reliable than memoirs written long after the events described. According to the author, the cumulative effect of all the information gathered, adds color and a continuing thread of context to simple facts on a particular setting or period.

The article discusses the biographical data of Cesare Ripa, author of the book "Iconologia," published in 1593. It is noted that the book reappeared in several editions with woodcut illustrations until the end of the eighteenth century. Ripa was born in Perugia, and worked as a trinciante at the court of Antonio Maria Salviati where he wrote the book. He has served Cardinal Montelparo in which he was tasked to cut and divide the food for the cardinal's guests. Furthermore, he stayed in the Rome from 1611-1620 in the casa di San Giancomo and delli Vittorij with the family of Francesco Romano Binachi.

The article focuses on some unpublished letters of economic writer David Ricardo. The important events of his life and general estimates of his character are presented in the formal tributes of contemporaries. But such sketches afford little aid for the mental construction of Ricardo as a man, and even less for the attempt to trace intellectual development or to interpret written thought. It is likely that scantiness of biographical commentary has contributed in considerable measure to make Ricardo the most signally misunderstood of modern economic writers. Some additional correspondence of Ricardo, comprising seventy letters in all, was discovered in England during the past summer by the present writer. It is proposed here to indicate briefly the character of this correspondence and to suggest its possible usefulness. The correspondence brought to light is composed in the main of two distinct collections. The general character of the letters may be described as a correspondence with a personal friend well informed in economic matters; in general but not in entire sympathy with the economic and political thought of his correspondent, and desirous of remaining in touch with his further activities.

The article describes the Oregon Historical Society (OHS) Research Library's special collection of photographs and papers of the Portland, Oregon-based Winch, Reed, and Wygant families. The archival materials include drawings, diaries, daguerreotypes, letters, and financial records housed in 13 document cases and four flat boxes.

The article discusses the evolution of "life annotation," which is the application of computer memory as an extension of individual human memory. The article reviews the history of the concept beginning in 1945 when Vannevar Bush, a top U.S. scientific and military policy maker, outlined a device called a "memex" that would be "an enlarged intimate supplement" to human memory. In 2007 we have vast, cheap digital storage, and the challenge is how to find what we're looking for. The article discusses Microsoft researcher Gordon Bell, who was inspired by Bush's article to digitize his life's work and memories in a database called MyLifeBits. Eric Horvitz, another Microsoft researcher, has developed the LifeBrowser system.

The article discusses the acquisition of the letters and archive papers of English writer John Evelyn by the British Library in London, England. According to the author, the acquisition of the papers manifests an essential event since the position owned by Evelyn depicts the aspects and views of the British culture in the 17th century. It discusses some parts of the letters that narrated Evelyn's encounter with Prince Rupert as well as the techniques and concept of mezzotint as discussed by the Prince. In addition, other letters from various artist that account the connections of Evelyn and Prince Rupert are discussed.

The article reports on the availability of the Wellcome Trust Centre for the History of Medicine's Livingston Online services in Great Britain. This service provides unique insights into the medical and scientific work of the missionary doctor and African explorer David Livingstone. The site offers detailed transcriptions and high quality images of the Livingstone correspondence from the Wellcome Library. The aim is to make all Livingstone's medical and scientific writings freely available online.

The article focuses on the publication of the letters of poet, essayist and dramatist James Russell Lowell. The letters of Lowell were edited by his friend. His early life was best described by his letters. The author showed interest in every trend of evolution during an age of multiform empiricism.