The hand on the paper

On personal archives and the materiality of celebrity

Abstract

The present article takes its departure in the early 19th century and the growing practice of collecting manuscripts and letters written by famous individuals. While positivist claims have underscored the rational and scientific nature of archives and archival material, the article focuses on the material and emotional incentives behind such endeavors. Handwritten documents were not only cherished and preserved because of the knowledge they might contain, but also for constituting physical links to historical bodies. They were carriers of the aura of celebrity and mediators of presence. More explicitly such incitements pervaded the collections of 19th century museums where manuscripts and autographs were often put on display next to portraits, busts, clothes and other kinds of memorabilia. Independently of their substances and contents such objects were invested with biographical significance. Rather than accentuating a history specific to the archive, the article points to the trans-institutional practices through which a cultural heritage dedicated to the commemoration and veneration of national heroes was formed.