ABSTRACT
It is sometimes suggested that any notion of an agreed structure is surplus to requirements. That given the state of play, an attempt at an integrated approach, in which the forms of print as well as the mechanisms of production and consumption are in some kind of balance, would be a recipe for delay and confusion. Under the circumstances, it seems to be argued, the chronological sequence itself, prefaced in each volume by a recurrent element of statistical information (databases constructed around the hierarchies of the book) and linked by bridging chapters is sufficient to carry the enterprise forward. Subsequently, chosen contributors can be slotted into a sequence in which any creative conflict of ideas can be me~iated by editorial intervention, but through which the momentum of the output of print can be displayed.
