The Myth of 'Documentation'

Abstract

The stir caused by the success of the book The Crimes of Charlotte Brontë, and the recent revelation based on DNA evidence that the third US President, Thomas Jefferson;, fathered a child by a mulatto slave;, emphasizes the need for scholars to be aware of the quality of documentary evidence. Using the death of Patrick Brontë's wife, Marie, in 1821 as an example;, the author shows that given the parlous state of medical knowledge at the time;, we can be far from certain about the cause of her death.