i do feel guilty about the binding falling apart each time i turn a page

My hands are both dirty and shiny right now. Paging through old newspapers will do that. How old, you ask? 145 years old. Hot damn.

Have I mentioned how much I love doing primary research?

Also, how on earth did people read (to say nothing of carrying around) newspapers that were practically three feet long and two feet wide? I'm not exaggerating. Well, at least not a lot...

Being in the archives prompted some thoughts on the production of history that I might write up later if they start cohering a bit more.