Book: Privacy in Early Modern Egodocuments: Personal Lives in Historical Perspective

 

Series: 

• Studies in the History of Privacy, Volume: 1

Volume Editors: Michael Green, Joanna Orzeł, and Anna Kowalcze-Pawlik

In early modern Europe, literacy was on the rise, and it became possible to reflect on one’s own life and secrets in private notes, letters to family and friends, as well as diaries, memoirs, and travelogues. Privacy in Early Modern Egodocuments: Personal Lives in Historical Perspective combines historical research with an analysis of personal narratives from Eastern, Central, and Western Europe (also in the global context) to discuss what privacy meant at a time of political and social turmoil. The contributions explore personal writings by elite figures, as well as non-elite groups and marginalised voices, in a detective-like fashion, bringing into focus narratives that have long been overlooked in traditional historical studies. The authors offer insights into the evolution of the concept of privacy as well as the use of egodocuments as a vital resource for understanding individual and collective memory, particularly as shaped by the region's dynamic history. 

Contributors are: András Bándi, Jakub Basista, Michael Green, Nere Jone Intxaustegi Jauregi, Anna Kowalcze-Pawlik, Katarzyna Kuras, Bernadetta Manyś, Joanna Orzeł, François-Joseph Ruggiu, Robert T. Tomczak, Nataliia Voloshkova, and Aleksandra Ziober.

2026 

E-Book (PDF), ISBN: 978-90-04-74984-9, Publication: 09 Feb 2026

Hardback, ISBN: 978-90-04-69310-4, Publication: 12 Mar 2026

 

Chapters:

Privacy, Private Lives, and Egodocumental Research, Michael Green, Joanna Orzeł, and Anna Kowalcze-Pawlik, 1–17 

Chapter 1 Looking for Early Modern Egodocuments as Sources for Privacy Research in the Archives: Some Observations, Michael Green, 18–39 

Chapter 2 Intimacy as Mutual Knowledge: an Exploration of Privacy through French Personal Writings during the Early Modern Period, François-Joseph Ruggiu, 40–68 

Chapter 3 The Making of a Hero: Virginia Narratives of John Smith (bap. 1580, d. 1631) and the Subtle Use of Privacy as a Tool to Promote Himself, Jakub Basista,

69–91 

Chapter 4 (De)Constructing Privacy, Describing Diplomatic Ties: Representations of Elizabeth I in Central European Egodocuments, Anna Kowalcze-Pawlik, 92–116 

Chapter 5 Lawsuits and Egodocuments on Sexual Intimacy in Early Modern Bilbao, Nere Jone Intxaustegi Jauregi, 117–133. Download PDF here.

Chapter 6 “Emotions” of a Parent during the Struggles of War: Lew Sapieha’s Private Relationship with His Son Jan Stanisław in Letters from 1626, Aleksandra Ziober, 134–152 

Chapter 7 The Privacy of Princesses and Princes: Relations between Members of the Saxon House of Wettin in the Mid-Eighteenth Century, Katarzyna Kuras, 153–175 

Chapter 8 Privacy and Publicity in Early Modern Alba Amicorum from Central Europe, Robert T. Tomczak, 176–196 

Chapter 9 Privacy in the Last Will Acts of Vilnius Bourgeois Women from the First Half of the Eighteenth Century: Study of Selected Cases, Bernadetta Manyś, 197–218 

Chapter 10 The Emergence of Privacy: Motivations and Self-Expression in Polish Noblewomen’s Diaries and Memoirs in the Late Eighteenth and Early Nineteenth Centuries, Joanna Orzeł, 219–240 

Chapter 11 Bluestockings and Their Spaces of Privacy in Conversation and in Writing: the Case of Mary Hamilton (1756–1816), Nataliia Voloshkova, 241–258 

Chapter 12 Public Duty and Private Life in Michael Conrad von Heydendorff (1730–1821)’s Autobiography and Georg Michael Gottlieb von Herrmann (1737–1807)’s Curriculum Vitae, András Bándi, 259–286 

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