Description
Book SynopsisHe was the only one. He was the only man to have committed suicide in the town's seventeenth-century history. So begins Donna Merwick's fascinating tale of a Dutch notary who ended his life in his adopted community of Albany. In a major feat of...
Trade ReviewA thoughtful examination of the roles played by writers and researchers, ruminating on the pawns that such average citizens can become both of history and of historians.
* Library Journal Academic Newsletter *
A gem of a book.... The author describes Janse's notarial career as a matter of 'nearsighted work. And the metaphor applies to her own efforts as well... as Death of a Notary is a strikingly successful example of... microhistory. Merwick is, at the same time, an expert storyteller, one who can piece together her admittedly fragmentary evidence in compelling, sometimes surprising ways.
-- John Demos * Washington Times *
Merwick presents a complex and fascinating account of van Ilpendam's career and daily life in late 17th-century Albany.... A major work of scholarship.
* AB Bookman's Weekly *
Ms. Merwick's careful, moving reconstruction of Janse's life and death shows what happens when a person who lives by words finds those he knows no longer suffice.
* The Chronicle of Higher Education *
Not only will specialists find the book useful in the debate over Dutch-English influence in New York, but it is a good beginning for the general reader seeking to understand the state. Above all, however, Death of a Notary is a rare commodity for a history book—a good story told well.
-- Don Roper * History *
This outstanding contribution to Colonial social history is highly recommended for all undergraduate and graduate history collections.
* Choice *
