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[canuckois]

I'm in History, and recently I've developed an interest in a little-known figure from the 17th century.  The only other historian to publish on this figure is a Big Name in a field related to my own.  More than 20 years ago, this Big Name mentioned in an article that s/he was writing a biography of this obscure historical figure; no such biography has appeared, however, and judging from Big Name's CV, s/he has moved on to other topics since then.

What would other forumites do in this situation?  I don't want to tread on any toes....but I'm also left to wonder why the biography never appeared.  Maybe the sources are unavailable or incomplete, and I'd rather learn that now than during an expensive research trip to Europe.  I guess my question is, how exactly does one contact another scholar and say that one is considering picking up where they left off, and hey, by the way, do you have any advice for me? 

[cc_and_grad]

I don't see why you need to contact Big Name at all. Are you planning on writing a biography on the same figure? That would be the only reason I could see for any anxiety or desire to contact Big Name. There's no question of trodding on toes otherwise. If you want to research the figure in a trip to Europe and write about what you find later, then you would, of course, acknowledge how BigName's work fits with yours.

There are a thousand reasons why BigName didn't come out with the biography. Lack of sources seems one of the least likely to me (surely BigName had a sense of the sources available when he/she made the statement about the biography).

[bevo98]

Gee, unless they have a copywrite on the person, I don't think you need their permission to work on the same individual.  

The only reason I can think of that a biography might be delayed would be a situation like that of Geroge F. Kennan who asked his biographer to wait until after his death..he died at 101.  

[sugaree]

It's perfectly acceptable to email Big Name, not to ask "permission" to work on Obscure Figure, but to describe your project/interests and ask about Big Name's own work on that figure. If it's been 20 years (and several projects) it's unlikely Big Name is returning to that research, but even if s/he is so what? Only one person can research on person at a time? What do all those Lincoln biographers do then?

Who knows, you may get some great insights into why Obscure Figure didn't make for good research, or that Big Name has materials you might find useful since s/he has moved on, etc. But don't worry about stepping on anyone's toes. You can't predict how people will act toward you (who knows if Big Name will be offended or supportive of your inquiry?). If you think contact will help your own research, do it. If you don't think so, then don't (Bevo98 is correct, you don't need permission).

[seniorscholar]

I have done exactly that for a biography that is now published by a university press. Big name told me in person, when we met in an archive, that s/he had moved on because the subject's handwriting "was impossible to read." By then I already knew that there were 80-some letters in the state historical society library about six blocks from my office, and the handwriting was a whole lot like my grandmother's: not really that hard to read at all. Name send me some records s/he had no further use for. And by the time I had spent three years on various  archives with non-published materials, the dramatic expansion of digitized newspapers, periodicals, and scanned books (on Google Books) had added literally hundreds and hundreds of pages of resources, many of which would have been impossible to discover even with half a lifetime in libraries. Take sugaree's advice.

[watermarkup]

I would write to Dr. Big Name not to seek permission, but in the hope that he or she would be so happy that someone was finally looking into an old project that hadn't gone anywhere that Dr. Big Name would send me a box of research notes obtained from obscure archives that I would never get to on my own.

I am far from being a big name, but I've done things like this maybe a half dozen times since I finished my doctorate.

[canuckois]

Thanks for the thoughts, everyone.  Perhaps I'm being a little over-cautious!

[flotsam]

I agree with sugaree, watermarkup, and seniorscholar.  In fact, I really don't think you need to consider this a "scoop" or any other form of competition.  Were I in Big Name's position, I'd be delighted to hear from someone interested in the same obscure figure that I'd devoted attention to; I'd likely want to help, or perhaps collaborate on future projects, but in any case I wouldn't view canuckois as a competitor or usurper, but as a colleague, an ally, and a potential friend.  (Similarly, were I in canuckois's position, I'd be eager to learn what Big Name has to say.)  Good luck with this promising research project!