Copy (records)

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In the records and sources edition, a copy is the version of a document that has been sent to its addressee, in contrast to the version remaining with the issuer. The term does not aim to differentiate between concept and fair copy or between original and copy , but is often used incorrectly in this sense.

Genesis of a document

A document such as a private letter or an official letter usually goes through different stages in its creation. Mostly it is first drafted as a concept (often without the formal opening and closing words of the final version), then (possibly several times) revised and corrected in order to be finalized in the form of a signed ( completed ) fair copy (which in turn can contain corrections or additions) to be forwarded to its addressee.

Some documents are never executed, for example because the correspondence or the course of business is interrupted beforehand; Nevertheless, concepts or fair copies, sometimes even signed fair copies, are often retained. One speaks of a copy only if the document has actually been sent to its addressee; if it reaches him, one speaks of a dexterous copy .

The template used for the execution is usually kept by the exhibitor; an authority takes them "to the files". Occasionally, several previous versions are retained, which can be concepts as well as fair copies or copies. The decisive criterion for a copy is not the fair copy or the signature of the document, but only its delivery to the addressee - regardless of whether it actually arrives at him or not, because the copy can also get lost on the way, be intercepted or due to lack of deliverability return to the sender.

literature

  • Friedrich Beck and Eckart Henning (eds.): The archival sources. With an introduction to the historical auxiliary sciences . 3rd, revised and expanded edition. Böhlau Verlag, Cologne, Weimar, Vienna 2003, ISBN

3-412-05702-9, pp. 84f.