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Welcome to Historical Interpretations

As a historian, my calling is to research topics, interpret the results of my research, and make that interpretation accessible to a broad and diverse audience in a form that is appropriate for the project. The part of this process that takes the most time, and is often the most fun, is the research, locating, and engaging with primary source materials. Evaluating them can also be time-consuming, particularly when they are handwritten, recently uncovered, present a controversial position, or directly contradict the historically accepted view of a subject. This is where lesser-known historical fields come into play; among my favorites are the bibliographic arts.

While I have several fields of interest within the broader field of history, my primary focus is on the bibliographic arts, paper and book preservation, conservation, manuscript and autograph transcription, and scholarly editions. I subscribe to the belief that learning is a life-long process, and to that end, I continue to spend time researching the fields I am working in, deepening my understanding, building resources, and making them available to others. Learning and education are not about gatekeeping; they are about sharing, collaboration, and expanding a widely accessible knowledge base.

Research & Writing

My personal research is focused on the bibliographic arts,1 often referred to as analytical bibliography. Beginning with the broader strokes found in the topic of book collecting, which touches on various subfields within the bibliographic arts. 2 While conducting my research, I will be building enumerated, or systematic, bibliographies, which is what most people think of when they see the word bibliography, lists of references for the subfields, which will, over time, become annotated bibliographies of resources on the bibliographical arts. This site is in part, a repository for these enumerated bibliographies.

As I approach the dissertation phase of my doctorate, my focus will shift to academic research, the topic of which, as of this update, is yet to be determined. I have four potential dissertation topics that I will soon be discussing with my dissertation advisor.

Documentary Editing & Transcription

After sifting through archival materials, it can be surprising how much material can be found that has not been published or made available outside of the physical collection. While not every scrap of paper in a collection may justify a scholarly edition, many documents or collections of related papers do have a place in the published, or at least accessible, historical record. This is one of the bibliographic arts I am deeply interested in.

Bibliography & Paper Conservation

My exposure to general collections conservation goes back over 45 years. I have had opportunities to return many books to service during that time. In recent years, I have had opportunities to delve more deeply into the realm of special collections conservation. I have several items in my personal collection that are in need of attention, some in the general collections category and some in special collections, which will be the topic of posts and articles to come.

There are several bibliographic fields I find myself drawn to, substraights, markers, codocology, graphology, and printing. All of the bibliographic arts are fascinating fields of study. Continuing my academic studies in these fields and conducting practical lab work will be a continuing theme moving forward. I am gathering tools and materials for a small hybrid lab to further these studies and practices.

Exhibits

Exhibit design, planning, and execution is where a lifetime of making 3 finds its place alongside the academic interpretation of place, time, and person, bringing them to visual and interactive spaces. My advantage in this field is the broad range of building and mechanical skills developed over five decades of making. The exhibition of documents, books, codices, and manuscripts is a niche subfield I will be pursuing over time.

  1. Ronald B. McKerrow, An Introduction to Bibliography: For Literary Students (Oxford University Press, 1927); Philip Gaskell, A New Introduction to Bibliography: The Classic Manual of Bibliography (Oak Knoll Press, 2012) ↩︎
  2. Jean Peters, Book Collecting: A Modern Guide (R. R. Bowker, 1977); John Carter, Taste & Technique in Book Collecting (Cambridge University Press, 1970). ↩︎
  3. For those not familiar with the making community, it is the taking of something envisioned in one’s mind and bringing it into existence. Making can be anything, music, computer code, costumes, props, woodworking, 3D modeling & printing, electronics, robotics, art in all its forms, through any medium or process. Makers tend to have an eclectic range of skills and often apply these skills in unique combinations and ways. Making skills are frequently accompanied by an ethos of creativity, problem-solving, open source, and community development. Makers often utilize their skills in their participation in other communities, such as Steampunk, live steam engineering, the Society for Creative Anachronism (SCA), cosplay, and period reenactment communities. ↩︎

updated December 11, 2025