Abstract

What are the relationships between historians and the sounds produced in the spaces and times they study? This article stresses the absence of historiographical interest in noise, due to the silence of the archives regarding matters of sound. It reviews the attempts at devising sonograms of historical periods, such as the eighteenth century. It highlights daily sounds and noises and it seeks out their traces in the domains of work, economy, religion, politics and royalty. Churches and hospitals, in particular, were home to harrowing sounds. Voices are also important data for historical enquiry, such as children's voices, peddlers’ tunes and street songs.