Publisher's Synopsis
Although the letter was one of the indispensable material foundations of scientific practice in German historical studies between the 19th and 21st centuries, it rarely received independent attention in specialist historical reflection. The volume examines letters from, to and about historians in terms of historiography and the history of science, but also in terms of cultural history, as a working tool and means of communication, as an expression of individual worlds of meaning and cultural imprints and, not least, asks about the limits of its significance in view of the establishment of other forms of communication. The contributions in this volume clearly demonstrate that the use of letters and their meaningful effect have both created a professional letter culture that is unique to the examined periods of time as well as long-term, possibly contradicting letter cultures.
