Controlling Time and Shaping the Self ─ Developments in Autobiographical Writing Since the Sixteenth Century

A comprehensive inventory of Dutch egodocuments was begun in the 1980s, establishing an exhaustive chronological list of these "texts in which authors speak about themselves" (from the introduction). Historians are mining this archive in international collaborations. This volume contains the fruits of two out of three study projects sponsored by the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research in association with the Huizinga Institut (Amsterdam), the U. of Basel (Switzerland) and the Freie Universitat Berlin (Germany). "Research has identified three influential factors in play. First there was the invention of the children's diary as a pedagogical tool...around 1780. Second, there was the influence of a new sense of time around 1800. Third, in the nineteenth century the commercialization of several autobiographical genres expanded." This volume contains papers pertaining to the latter two areas (the first was addressed in a previous volume (Child of the Enlightenment, Revolutionary Europe reflected in a Boyhood Diary). The volume is not indexed. Annotation c2011 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Arianne Baggerman studied history at Erasmus University Rotterdam. She has published various books and articles in the fields of book history and cultural history. Professor Baggerman previously taught at the Utrecht University, and is now teaching history at Erasmus and is Professor of Book History at the University of Amsterdam.Rudolf Dekker studied history at the University of Amster?dam. He has published a number of books and articles on social and cultural history. Recently, he published a survey of the History of the Netherlands.Michael Mascuch read Modern History at Cambridge University. His research has focused on early modern English culture and society. He now teaches in the Department of Rhetoric at the University of California at Berkeley.