My personal interest as to how the JMB came into existence has not been without some difficulty. There are no remaining informal notes of early discussions relating to the proposed new publication which is unfortunate, though not uncommon. In my own research I have often wished for more details of this type and continually find myself reminding audiences of the need to preserve both formal and informal records relating to societies, journals and other initiatives for future study. The very best example of history is one which attempts to understand what has happened from all angles, regardless of how trivial much of this may seem. For many years I have had a postcard on my study wall which proclaims that “History is simply gossip well told”. Whilst this causes mild amusement for some undergraduates, there is nevertheless an element of truth, particularly in relation to a subject which is created by so many different voices.

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社论

我个人对 JMB 如何形成的兴趣并非没有困难。没有剩余的与拟议的新出版物有关的早期讨论的非正式记录，这虽然并不罕见，但令人遗憾。在我自己的研究中，我经常希望获得更多此类细节，并不断发现自己提醒读者需要保留与社会、期刊和其他计划有关的正式和非正式记录，以备将来研究。历史最好的例子是试图从各个角度理解发生了什么，不管这些看起来多么微不足道。多年来，我的书房墙上一直挂着一张明信片，上面写着“历史就是八卦”。虽然这给一些本科生带来了轻微的乐趣，但仍有一定的道理，