Description
Book SynopsisThe growth and development of the Lincoln Record Society in its first hundred years highlights the contribution of such organisations to historical life.In 2010 the Lincoln Record Society celebrates its centenary with the publication of the hundredth volume in its distinguished series. Local record societies, financed almost entirely from the subscriptions of their members, have made an important contribution to the study of English history by making accessible in printed form some of the key archival materials relating to their areas. The story of the Lincoln society illustrates the struggles and triumphsof such an enterprise. Founded by Charles Wilmer Foster, a local clergyman of remarkable enthusiasm, the LRS set new standards of meticulous scholarship in the editing of its volumes. Its growing reputation is traced here througha rich archive of correspondence with eminent historians, among them Alexander Hamilton Thompson and Frank Stenton. The difficulties with which Kathleen Major, Canon Foster's successor, contended to keep the Society alive duringthe dark days of the Second World War are vividly described. The range of volumes published has continued to expand, from the staple cartularies and episcopal registers to more unusual sources, Quaker minutes, records ofCourts of Sewers and seventeenth-century port books. While many of the best-known publications have dealt with the medieval period, notably the magnificent
Registrum Antiquissimum of Lincoln Cathedral, there have also beeneditions of eighteenth-century correspondence, twentieth-century diaries, and pioneering railway photographs of the late Victorian era. This story shows the Lincoln Record Society to be in good heart and ready to begin its secondcentury with confidence. Nicholas Bennett is currently Vice-Chancellor and Librarian of Lincoln Cathedral.
Trade ReviewWritten by a general editor of LRS, this fine work shows the history implicit in so many LRS volumes put to excellent use. * ENGLISH HISTORICAL REVIEW *
An ideal pick for anyone with an eye for [the] importance of personal history. * MIDWEST BOOK REVIEW *
Table of ContentsPreface The Origins of the Society Charles Wilmer Foster and the Foundation of the Society The Early Years of the Society The Stentons, Domesday Book and the Registrum Antiquissimum The Death of the Founder The Impact of the Second World War Continuity and Change: The Society from 1960-2010 Appendix One: The Members of the Society Appendix Two: The Publications of the Society
