Since the second half of the nineteenth century, respect des fonds has traditionally been considered as the basic principle of archival science.By its practice the archivist is most clearly distinguished from the librarian on the one hand and from the professional researcher or documentalist on the other.Like many principles, however, it is easier to state than to define and easier to define than to put into practice.Although its origins are relatively easy to establish, difficulties arise as soon as a n attempt is made to study its theoretical aspects thoroughly and to show its practical applications.Generations of archivists and archival technicians have examined these problems without resolving them.This article will not attempt to restate the basic ideas of a question to which so many eminent theorists have made noteworthy contributions.Its ambition is at one and the same time more modest and more practical: to try to define the basic elements of the problem and to search out solutions for actual cases without being distracted by considerations which are too theoretical.Difficulties in defining the problem often result from a vocabulary which is poorly translated from one language to another and which, therefore, gives rise to errors and sometimes even misinterpretations. HISTORICAL DEFINITION O F RESPECT DES FONDSLeaving aside all the problems of interpretation which we will tackle later on, the simplest definition of respect des fonds means to group, without mixing them with others, the archives (documents of every kind) created by or coming from' an administration, establishment, person, or corporate body.This grouping is called * EDITOR'S NOI.E This article originallt' appeared in French in La Gazette des Archives 97 (1977)pages 71-96.Given the importanc,e o f the subject, Archivaria commissioned a translation so rhat the fundamental issues raised h.1, the aurhor might have rhe broader audience the^, deserve.The piec,e reprinted here in translation has rhe author'.^permission andapproval.The rranslation ofthe texr as done h,r Ka).Brearle~,, nou.retiredfron~ the Departmenr ofFrench, Universit~, British q f Columbia; rhe foornotes were translated h ~, Louise Ouellette o f t h e Manuscript Division, Public Archives of'Canada.I We will return later to the difficulties raised by the notion of "provenance."
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