When the Mobile Archive Stops Moving

Abstract This essay takes the theme of the “Mobile Archive” as an opportunity to examine how collections come to ‘mean’ differently when they are moved and take up residence in new physical spaces. Scholars today are accustomed to moving themselves around the world to visit the archives they need, but many archives were constructed by moving collections from various locations to assemble an entirely new archive. Taking the example of the papers of William Petty, 2 nd Earl of Shelburne, whose papers now reside at the William Clements Library at the University of Michigan, this essay raises questions about how the meanings of archives change as they move.