Dave Anderson NH
>Hi Mike, I disagree partly with you on the accuracy of probate inventories. Those inventories were as accurate as they could make them vis a vis the actual contents since they were legal documents. Where the "accuracy" issue falls apart is in how we interpret the meaning of arcaic usages and descriptions and in how both we and the original probate examiners valued a particular item. If the examiner was a cabinetmaker or joyner, maybe the values were accurate, at least in relation to a tool's condition. If it was the local magistrate, it's anybody's guess. What bothers me about the inventories is the tendency to lump groups of things together with an aggregate value making it really hard to understand what is actually there. Kind of makes you wish for a time machine.