Preface
The Hungarian Revolt || 1: "Those Heroic Days"
Each Scribner Research Anthology is a collection of written sources upon a single
historical, literary, or scientific topic- the Hungarian Revolt, Shakespeare's Julius
Caesar; or extrasensory perception, for example.
Each anthology is designed to serve two purposes. First, each gives the student access
to important sources -texts, documents, letters, diaries, essays, for instance- on a given
topic. Some of these sources are otherwise available in only a few libraries, some
(manuscripts and historical documents) in only one. In any case, the collection as a whole
is not otherwise available in one volume. Second, each anthology gives the student either
all his sources for a controlled- research paper or some of them for a library-research
paper. Each anthology can be valuable either for readings in courses in history,
literature, science, or humanities or as the basis for a research paper in these or in
other courses.
A controlled-research paper -a paper in which the student's search for sources is
limited to, and in certain ways controlled by, those sources contained in one anthology-
is not so noble an undertaking as a library-research paper. But it is often more
successful -more rewarding for the student and easier for his instructor to teach
effectively and judge fairly. Its advantages for both student and instructor are often
considerable.
For the student, it sometimes provides sources unavailable in his school library, and
it enables him to learn a good deal about research (selection, interpretation, and
evaluation of sources; quotation and paraphrase; and documentation) without prior
instruction in use of the library (and, incidentally, without overtaxing the facilities
and the resources of his library and without loss of; or damage to, sources either
irreplaceable or difficult and expensive to replace).
For the instructor, it permits focus of class discussion upon a limited set of topics.
It enables him to track down the student's sources conveniently. And -perhaps the greatest
advantage of all- it enables him to judge both conveniently and exactly how well the
student has selected, interpreted, and evaluated his sources and how well he has quoted
and paraphrased them.
In many schools, a controlled-research paper is either a preliminary to or a part of a
library-research paper. A library-research paper is probably the most difficult paper that
the student can be assigned to write. The problems that confront him are not simply those
common to any paper-organization, paragraphing, and transitions, for instance-and those
(already mentioned) common to all research papers. He has, in addition, the problem of
using the library well -of; for example, using the card catalogue, periodical indexes, and
other reference works. But, if the instructor assigns a controlled-research paper as a
preliminary to or, as it were, an early part of a library-research paper, the student need
not come to grips with all these problems at once.
Each Scribner Research Anthology is compiled according to the following editorial
principles. Each source that is not anonymous is prefaced by a biographical note on its
author. At the foot of the same page is a bibliographical note. Each source is reprinted
exactly as it appears in the original except for (1) some typographical peculiarities, (2)
explanatory notes, given in brackets, and (3) omissions, indicated by ellipses .....
."). And, finally, for each source that has pagination in the original, page numbers
are given in brackets within the source itself -thus: "[320/321]," where
everything before the slash (and after the preceding slash, if any) is from page 320, and
everything after the slash (and before the next slash, if any) is from page 321. For a
source hitherto unpublished, no page numbers are given; and the student who uses it should
cite the page numbers of the Scribner Research Anthology. Footnotes to a source are given
as in the original. Where the original pagination of a footnote is not evident, its page
number precedes it in brackets.
MARTIN STEINMANN, JR. General Editor
Bingham Bay, Lake Gogebic
August, 1960
