RESEARCH

Evening Post, Volume CV, Issue 110, 10 May 1923, Page 7

RESEARCH

A WORKSHOP FOR STUDENTS

'AMONG THE ARCHIVES

NEW ZEALAND'S CONTRIBUTION.

I (FROM OBIt OOT CO1UIB8PONDBNI.) LONDON, 22nd March. Sir James Allen, on behalf of the Government of New Zealand, has pre-^ sented a number of volumes dealing with the Dominion to the Institution of Historical Research.. Amongst the genj eral public the mention of this institute I would stir no emotion nor pride, but ! amongst students of history it means a i unique achievement, an organisation without a parallel. It is the dream of scholastic enthusiasts come true. This •is not a general historical library, but a workshop for historical research. The scripts and books, indexes and guides to gether under one roof the historical records of the world—catalogues of manuscrips and books, indexes and guides to records, bibliographies, calendars, and collections of printed documents. Or, aj the original prospectus has it, " its object is to become an index to historical knowledge, a, focus of historical research, a clearing-house' of historical ideas, and a. historical laboratory open to students | of all universities and all nations." There were three people whose enthusiasm brought about the establishment of the institute—Professor A. F. Pollard (Professor of English History of the London University), Professor A. P. Newton .(Rhodes Professor of Imperial History), and Miss E. J. Davis, M.A. (Reader in the History of Records of London). A sum of £8000 was at first collected, and then skib generous donor, who remains anonymous, made the amount up.to £20,000. With this Bum the institute was built and equipped. The building is a wooden structure, which is meant only to be temporary, built on the site in Bloomsbury which has been set apart for the London University College Buildings. It will stand for twenty yea-re or moire, but probably lone before that the equipment within will be transferred to some more permanent home,' possibly on the same cite. Everyone who wishes to do research work into the history of the Enelishspeaking people of thifttorld has to come to London. The institute does not tak» the place of the Public Record office, the British Museum, mi the other Governmental archives which gire London its pre-eminence as a centre of historical research, but it teaches students what to seek, and how to find and use it, and thus to economise their labour and that' of the custodians of the archives. Students pursue their actual investigations in those archives; they go to the institute to discuss their problems and resnfts, and to receive that oral guidance from which they are properly debarred in libraries and manuscript departments. The regulations of the institute provide that appointed, recognised, and, other teachers of the University of London, teachers in other universities, and other historians and archivists may be admitted by the committee on payment of a small fee. Thus, students and historians from America are to be found making use of the library. New Zealand is represented by only one student so farMr. E. S. de Beer (Dunedin), who is working for his degree of M.A. in History. MATERIAL FOE MAKING HISTORY. A visit to this workshop of historians gives a mere outsider an added respect for an abstract subject. Here is a huge corridor lined with cases and shelves to be filled in time with reference books essential to all kinds of students, such as encyclopaedias, atlases, dictionaries, a file of "The Times," and so forth. Already a fair proportion of the shelveß have been filled. From off the corridor doors lead into rooms allocated to special subjects. Thus, we have a room containing the archives of the Balkans. Then, in separate rooms, are those of Russia, France, the Netherlands. A larger library is devoted to general European archives. Two small rooms are set apart for naval and military archives. In regard to the latter it is interesting to not© that the War Office in going through old records to make a selection for the institute found a war map showing all the roads and villages and contours of the Gallipoli Peninsula. It was produced in 1853 during the Crimean War; but in 1914, when it might have been of special use, no one in the War Office knew of its existence. A large library is devoted to the English archives, and here may be found the Debates of the Houses of Parliament since early in 1800, and hundreds of other "olumes of use to the research student, or for the writer of history. A small room is devoted to the study of handwriting, and it is interesting to see the facsimiles of letters and. documents written by prominent people of many centuries. London archives also have a room to themselves, and a large library is devoted to the Dominions and colonies. So far it would seem that only Canada and South Africa, have done well in the publication of their official documents. Australian States are a long way behind in this respect, and New Zealand lags last. "Hocken's Bibliography" is perhaps the most useful book on the shelves at present. Finally, there is a large library devoted to the archives of the United States. INSTITUTE OF NATIONAL AFFAIRS. I In the building, too, is the assembly 1 room of the British Institute,of International Affairs, an organisation which includes among its members most of the diplomatic representatives of Europe, and the High Commiaßioners of the Dominions. One of the regulations of this exclusive organisation js that no report of its proceedings shall be commj/iioated to the Press. Members thus have an opportunity of speaking openly and out fear of creating complications through their opinions being discussed by a wider public. It will be remembered that Sir James Allen, who is very enthusiastic the Institute of International Aifairs, recently lectured on. New Zealand before the members-. This is merely a glimpse into what seems another world. Education is not a thing that receives publicity in London, but the existence of this Institute of Historical Research and the work it is doing and has done in its year of existence must be of considerable interest at least to students throughout rSe Empire.