Sunday, March 27, 2022

Women's History Month 2022: Ephemera

In this fourth week of Women's History Month, we are looking at books focusing on material culture that will help you better understand her life.





Title: Encyclopedia of Ephemera: A Guide to the Fragmentary Documents of Everyday Life for the Collector, Curator and Historian

Author:  Maurice Rickards

Publisher: Routledge



Synopsis: "Ephemera is the plural form of the Greek word ephemeron. Literally, it refers to something that lasts through the day, or as Maurice Rickards proposes, the minor transient documents of everyday life. Collectively the many entries in this formidible reference work provide  a better definition of ephemera since they include manuscript and printed matter, records of the past and present, items designed to be thrown away, and to be kept."


Why You Need This Book: I wish more genealogists talked about ephemera since so much of what we search for and that can help us has an ephemeral quality. Ephemera are those everyday pieces or paper that can have genealogical value. This encyclopedia, like all encyclopedias, introduces you to some of these items and then you can consider these as you research your family history at home, in libraries, and archives. 

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