Anti-methodology par excellence

Richard Cobb (1917–96) was a well-known historian of modern France whose numerous studies contributed to revising our interpretations of the revolutionary period and its impact on the people of both Paris and the provinces. Cobb was also a very knowledgeable, sharp, witty and deeply entertaining essayist and reviewer not just of all things French across a wide chronological spectrum, but of historical matters more generally. Controversial and unusual, his work proved to be unique among scholars – and, for this reason, open to criticism. One trait that defined such uniqueness was his unapologetic and fierce aversion to methodological discussion as well as theoretical reflection in historical research. And yet, as this article attempts to show, his oeuvre – including a variety of different material – unveils a range of insightful and important considerations on the métier d'historien and the practice of history-writing. By focusing on a series of compelling images Cobb delineated throughout his works, reviews and essays in order to depict the role of the historian and the way(s) of going about the business of approaching the past, the following pages intend to provide a novel sketch of the ideas of this anti-methodologist par excellence. In particular, attention will be given to his configuration of the identity of the practitioner as wanderer, detective and novelist. It is thus hoped that the light cast on his writings might prompt a new reading of Cobb's opinions as a source of possible historiographical inspiration for new generations of historians

Aesthetics · Art · CobB · Criticism · Economics · Epistemology · Excellence · Historiography · Identity (music · Literature · Order (exchange · Political science · Sketch · Sociology · Classics · Computer Science · European Political History Analysis · Historical Studies and Socio-cultural Analysis · History · Law · Philosophy · Philosophy, History, and Historiography

• Archaeologist, coroner, detective, lawyer, translator or what? The (intellectual) historian, cultural criticism, audiences and the painterly eye

  Cesare Cuttica•Global Intellectual History•2019

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• Beyond the Terror

  Open Access•Gwynne Lewis, Colin Lucas•Beyond the Terror•1983

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• French and Germans, Germans and French

  Gordon Wright, Richard Cobb•The American Historical Review•1984

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• Reactions to the French Revolution

  R R Palmer, Richard Cobb•The American Historical Review•1973

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• The Era of the French Revolution

  Richard Cobb•The Journal of Modern History•1958

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• Cobb's France

  Open Access•J P T Bury•The Historical Journal•1976

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• The Revival of Narrative

  Lawrence Stone•Past & Present•1979

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• Olwen Hufton's 'Poor', Richard Cobb's 'People', and the Notions of the longue duree in French Revolutionary Historiography

  Catherine Jones•Past & Present•2006

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