“An Official in the Network”. Social Network Analysis in Correspondence Research. The Case of Artur Doliński (1831–1909)

This article presents the use of Social Network Analysis (SNA) in studying the correspondence of Artur Doliński (1831–1909). Based on the Register of Letters Sent for the years 1852–1900 (approximately 4,650 entries), a directed, weighted ego-network of the sender was constructed; metadata (dates, addressees, localities) were normalized; and temporal (yearly/monthly) and spatial (by locality) analyses were carried out. The findings underscore the usefulness of SNA as a “research compass” in social history and biographical studies: the method organizes the material, reveals critical nodes and zones of intersection between the “worlds” of life, and generates falsifiable hypotheses for further qualitative reading of ego-documents.