Historical statistics and British economic history: the British Historical Statistics Project (BHSP)

The project now underway to produce a new, multivolume print and online edition of Brian Mitchell’s British Historical Statistics is an opportunity to examine the history of the celebrated work. An account of its conception, reception, and evolution provides a window through which to examine a central aspect of economic history’s disciplinary history and methodenstreit; certain fundamentals relating to the demand for, and supply of, historical statistics; and to introduce the British Historical Statistics Project, which is now underway but still in its infancy, during which it is closely examining its antecedents in order to learn the correct lessons from that history.