《旧制度与大革命·序言·致读者》第11节
I may add, I think, without undue pretensions, that the volume now published is the product of very extended labours. Sometimes a short chapter has cost me more than a year of researches. I might have surcharged my pages with notes, but I have preferred to insert them in a limited number at the end of the volume, with a reference to the pages of the text to which they relate. In these notes the reader will find some illustrations and proofs of what I have advanced. I could largely augment the quantity of them if this book should appear to require it.
注释摘要
托克维尔在这一段里放下了历史学家的分析语调，转而以作者的身份对读者交代这部书的成书过程，语气里带着某种恳切的自辩。他请读者相信，这部著作背后是极为漫长的劳动，一个简短的章节可能耗费他一年以上的研究时间。这并非夸张的修辞。从留存的手稿和笔记可以知道，他的工作方式是先大量阅读旧制度末期的行政档案、地方陈情书、省三级会议记录，再从中提炼出结构性的论点，几乎是用档…