The efflorescence of journals, gazettes, and "mercures" in France beginning in the seventeenth century not only created a Republic of Letters but transformed the conception and practice of contemporary history and even of history in general. They recorded and documented events to an extent before unimaginable, and specialized journals enlarged the concept of history from politics to culture in all its aspects. Though journalists had the lowest status and reporting was unreliable, such savants as Bayle, Vigneul-Marville, and Camusat saw clearly (...) the importance and potentialities of journalism as a resource for contemporary historiography. (shrink)