This dissertation recounts the history of some widely read texts and develops new ways of writing about the past; it is at once an investigation into the particulars of history and an account of the historiography needed of that investigation. As an historical account, it documents the development during the seventeenth century of the learned journal "The Philosophical Transactions," which became a model for that most flexible form, the periodical. As historiography, it builds methods for the history of texts, books, and letters, contributing to basic scholarship within bibliography. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]