The Editor as Biographer

Editors are really biographers of sorts almost all the time when editing ~ the papers of their subjects. All meaningful characters who appear in documentary editions are usually identified in footnotes and head notes, biographical directories, introductions, and sometimes even in indexes. No one knows the subject-the person being studied-as well as the documentary editor. Day in and day out editors pore over their documents intently, attempting to make sense of the interrelationships among all the historical participants. As part of their responsibility, editors explain the intricacies and uncertainties in these relationships