|
View the h-rural Discussion Logs by month
View the Prior Message in h-rural's February 1994 logs by: [date] [author] [thread] View the Next Message in h-rural's February 1994 logs by: [date] [author] [thread] Visit the h-rural home page.
Burkhard Poettler writes... > Another topic I'm dealing with is the analysis of probate > inventories--mainly from the 18th century--as a source for the > history of everyday life in rural areas, focussed especially on > dwelling culture and agricultural tools and implements. > Fortunately, recent database technologies allow an adequate input > of highly structured sources and support therefore the > combination of qualitative and quantitative approaches. In > addition to the interpretation and analysis of the contents of > probate inventories these new techniques could be a good tool for > the exploration of source critical aspects, by comparing the > orthography and the inner structure of the inventories, for > instance. Burkhard, This sounds like very interesting work. For the past two decades, economic and social historians working in the U.S. have made extensive use of probate inventories, initially for the study of wealth distribution, but later for other purposes. I would like to hear more about the new quantitative (and qualitative) methods for analyzing probate inventories in the 18th century. --Jim Oberly, H-Rural Moderator
 Humanities & Social Sciences Online 
|