In the last decades, a vast body of literature has scrutinized the archive, regarding it as an instrument of power for the Western conquest of the world. More recently, a new, vibrant cultural history of archives has changed our understanding of archives as a fully-fledged historical object and why they matter for extending the geographical scope of history and achieving a more connected image of modernity. The articles assembled in this themed issue delve into the history of imperial archives and archival practices in the period 1500-1800, bringing together different lines of inquiry. Each contribution focuses on a major Western imperial formation at different epochs in their evolution, dealing both with current records and historical collections; each engages with archives as an institution, as assemblages of documents that circulated in and out of official depositories, as a site where colonial administrative knowledge was elaborated, and as a political project.

中文翻译：

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简介：档案、记录保存和帝国治理，1500-1800

在过去的几十年里，大量文献仔细研究了档案，将其视为西方征服世界的权力工具。最近，一种新的、充满活力的档案文化史改变了我们对档案作为一个成熟的历史对象的理解，以及为什么它们对于扩展历史的地理范围和实现更紧密联系的现代形象很重要。本主题刊中收集的文章深入探讨了 1500 年至 1800 年期间的帝国档案和档案实践的历史，汇集了不同的研究方向。每篇贡献都侧重于西方帝国在不同时期的演变过程中的主要形成，既涉及当前记录，也涉及历史收藏；每个人都将档案作为一个机构参与，