Define Historiography

Definition of Historiography

The history of history.

   In its most basic definition, historiography is the history of history.  It is the study of historical writing.  On this page, we will look at the definitions of historiography provided by various historians: 

Conal Furay and and Michael J. Salevouris define historiography as "the study of the way history has been written and is written - the history of historical writing... When you study "historiography" you do not study the events of the past directly, but the changing interpretations of those events in the works of individual historians."

From: Furay, Conal, and Michael J. Salevouris. The Methods and Skills of History: A Practical Guide (2010).

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Jack H. Hexter observed that, "Since historiography communicates what the historian knows or thinks he knows, a consideration of the historian's way of writing that does not relate it to his way of knowing is doomed to triviality."

From: Hexter, J. H., Doing History, Indiana University Press(1975).