The Birth of the Archive traces the history of archives from their emergence in the Late Middle Ages through the Early Modern Period, and vividly shows how archives permeated and fundamentally changed European culture. Archives were compiled and maintained by peasants and kings, merchants and churchmen, and conceptions of archives were as diverse as those who used them. The complex, demanding job of the archivist was just as variable: archivists might serve as custodians, record-keepers, librarians, legal experts, historians, scholars, researchers, public officials, or some combination thereof; navigating archives was often far from straightforward. The shift of archival storage from haphazard collections of papers to the methodically organized institutionalized holdings of the nineteenth century was a gradual, nonlinear process.

Friedrich provides an essential background to the history of archives over the centuries and enriches the story of their evolution with chapters on key sociocultural aspects of European archival culture. He discusses their meaning and symbolism in European thought, early modern conceptions of the archive’s function, and questions of access and usability. Exploring the close, often vexed relationship between archives and political power, Friedrich illustrates the vulnerability of archives to political upheaval and war. He concludes with an introspective look at how historians used their knowledge of and work with archives to create distinct representations of themselves and their craft.

The Birth of the Archive engages with scholarship in political history, the history of mentalities, conceptions of space, historiography, and the history of everyday life in early modern Europe. It has much to offer for specialists and scholars, while the jargon-free prose of this translation is also accessible to the general reader.

Markus Friedrich is Professor of Early Modern History, University of Hamburg. John Noël Dillon (translator) is a Lecturer in Ecclesiastical Latin, Yale Divinity School.

“The Birth of the Archive is a landmark contribution to the history of scholarship and knowledge. Opening a fascinating window into early modern archival practice, this stylish and thought-provoking book is a classic in the making.”
—Alexandra Walsham, University of Cambridge

"This is a rich and valuable synthesis of the history of early modern archives and archival practices. ... I am thoroughly impressed by Markus Friedrich’s work. It is based on a huge amount of scholarship in half a dozen languages and on first-hand research in some thirty archives and libraries. ... It will be of great interest for political historians, historians of scholarship, and social historians of knowledge alike."
--- Renaissance Quarterly

"In the Birth of the Archive, Friedrich has accounted for the development and uses of archives, while situating these changes in early modern historiography... Scholars unable to read German can now engage with this vital intervention about early modern information cultures." - Jonathan Greenwood, Journal of Jesuit Studies

"I highly recommend this book for scholars and afficionados of the history and development of libraries and archives, and for use in any higher education classes that deal with this topic. It presents a balance of fact and story that is quite entertaining as well as enlightening."
—The Sixteenth Century Journal

"The Birth of the Archive is a delightfully engaging and erudite monograph. At times it reads like a who-done-it of the documentary evidence world from the late Middle Ages through the Early Modern period. ... One of the joys of this book is Friedrich’s ability to traverse centuries, making archival history relevant and offering precedents for today’s practice."
-- Textual Cultures

“In this lively and readable synthesis, Professor Friedrich provides an astute overview and scintillating analysis of a generation’s work in the ‘new history of archives,’ informed by his own impressive contributions to this emerging field. This book will be illuminating to scholars of early modern Europe, and equally to anyone who conducts research in archives and wonders how these accumulated treasures took shape over time.” 
—Randolph C. Head, University of California, Riverside

"The Birth of the Archive, the English translation of Die Geburt des Archivs (2013), is a well-researched and learned history of archival practices and knowledge making in early modern Europe... Friedrich’s book is a welcome addition to the emerging history of archives as part of the broader enterprise of the history of knowledge. John Noël Dillon’s English translation will certainly extend its readership." - Paula Findlen, American Historical Review