Encyclopedia of Early Modern History Online

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Archive
(1,909 words)

1. Terminology and purpose

In the first volume of Zedler’s 1732 Universal-Lexicon, the word Archiv is defined as a “certain place” where “the Instrumenta publica and other important and classified documents affecting the state and laws of the prince and his territory are held in safekeeping.” The definition of the term in the Encyclopédie of  Diderots and  d’Alembert, influenced by the Enlightenment, is not much different: Se dit d’anciens titres ou chartes…

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Menk, Gerhard, “Archive”, in: Encyclopedia of Early Modern History Online, Editors of the English edition: Graeme Dunphy, Andrew Gow. Original German Edition: Enzyklopädie der Neuzeit. Im Auftrag des Kulturwissenschaftlichen Instituts (Essen) und in Verbindung mit den Fachherausgebern herausgegeben von Friedrich Jaeger. Copyright © J.B. Metzlersche Verlagsbuchhandlung und Carl Ernst Poeschel Verlag GmbH 2005–2012. Consulted online on 19 March 2024 <http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/2352-0272_emho_COM_017031>
First published online: 2015
First print edition: 20160321



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