@RosJ @histodons I'm not very knowledgeable about the history of British historical writing specifically, but for the areas I do know something about (Germany, France), historians used explicit references a lot more in the 17th and early 18th centuries, then gave up on it in the later 18th and 19th. It can be described as a genre shift, having to do with target audiences and intended use of the text. The 19th c. history book was meant to read like a novel, and thus be more accessible and interesting to a wider audience. And yes, that makes them intensely frustrating to use as a research source. #Historiography #HistoryOfHistoricalWriting