New Guides to Primary Sources on the History of Early British America

Abstract

JT should come as no surprise to historians of early British America that the resources for the subject are not only rich and diverse but also widely scattered. In an era of cheap air fares and photocopies, this last characteristic creates less of a burden than in the days of George Bancroft or Charles M. Andrews-provided, of course, that we can first identify what we need to see. Fortunately, scholars have come forward with guides and handbooks that make such research both easier and potentially more comprehensive than in the past. The purpose of this essay is to introduce a variety of recently published guides to primary materials-particularly manuscript materials-and to place them in the context of what is already available. The exercise seems especially necessary because the major journals in American history, this one included, no longer regularly review such guides as they appear. In addition, I hope that this notice will encourage the creation of more guides, since all students of the period benefit greatly from them. Many a fine book has been made possible by the existence of good guides to the sources. Preparing the best of these handbooks is as much an intellectual attainment as is the realization of any monograph based upon them. The immediate occasion of this essay is the appearance of several volumes that constitute de facto revisions of the classic Carnegie Institution of Washington manuals produced early in this century under the direction of J. Franklin Jameson.' This new spate of guides has been