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Abstract. In descriptive studies, where the source and target texts are the main primary sources ("primary text products"), "extra-textual" sources are looked at with "circumspection" (Toury 1995:65). However, in historical research methodologies they are central. This article examines the use and value of archives, manuscripts and, especially, translator papers, post-hoc accounts and interviews in producing a history of translation and translators. Rather than informing a 'traditional' Rankean history of facts and major personalities, the article underlines the potential value of such material in creating a 'microhistory ' (Ginzburg 1976' (Ginzburg /1980, reclaiming the details of the everyday lives and working processes of sometimes little-known or forgotten translators and contextualizing them to construct a social and cultural history of translation and translators. Sometimes these sources are housed in collections where translation may not be very visible, which creates problems of location. Examples are given from the autobiography of A. Birse and research on the working papers of