The nature of the distinction between annals and history is a subject based on divisions established by the ancient Romans. Verrius Flaccus, quoted by Aulus Gellius, stated that the etymology of history (from Greek ιστορειν, historein, equated with Latin inspicere, "to inquire in person") properly restricts it to primary sources such as Thucydides's which have come from the author's own observations, while annals record the events of earlier times arranged according to years. Hayden White distinguishes annals from chronicles, which organize their events by topics such as the reigns of kings, and from histories, which aim to present and conclude a narrative implying the moral importance of the events recorded. Generally speaking, annalists record events drily, leaving the entries unexplained and equally weighted.
In modern literature, the term "annals" is similarly loosely applied to works which more or less strictly adhere to the order of years, both in western contexts (English Annual Registers, French Annuaires de la Revue, German Jahrbücher) and to equivalent styles in other cultures (such as the Chinese Spring and Autumn Annals).
EB (1878). - Baynes, T. S., ed. (1878), "Annals" , Encyclopædia Britannica, vol. 2 (9th ed.), New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, pp. 60–61 https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Encyclop%C3%A6dia_Britannica,_Ninth_Edition/Annals
OED (1884). - "annals, n.", Oxford English Dictionary, Vol. I, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1888 [First added 1884], p. 338 https://archive.org/stream/ANewEnglishDictionaryOnHistoricalPrinciples.10VolumesWithSupplement/01.NEDHP.AB.Oxford.Murray.1888.#page/n361/mode/2up
EB (1878). - Baynes, T. S., ed. (1878), "Annals" , Encyclopædia Britannica, vol. 2 (9th ed.), New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, pp. 60–61 https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Encyclop%C3%A6dia_Britannica,_Ninth_Edition/Annals
OED (1884). - "annals, n.", Oxford English Dictionary, Vol. I, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1888 [First added 1884], p. 338 https://archive.org/stream/ANewEnglishDictionaryOnHistoricalPrinciples.10VolumesWithSupplement/01.NEDHP.AB.Oxford.Murray.1888.#page/n361/mode/2up
EB (1878). - Baynes, T. S., ed. (1878), "Annals" , Encyclopædia Britannica, vol. 2 (9th ed.), New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, pp. 60–61 https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Encyclop%C3%A6dia_Britannica,_Ninth_Edition/Annals
Gellius (177). - Gellius, Aulus (177), Noctes Atticae, v.18
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White (1987), p. 16. - White, Hayden V. (1987), The Content of Form: Narrative Discourse and Historical Representation, Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press
White (1987), p. 7. - White, Hayden V. (1987), The Content of Form: Narrative Discourse and Historical Representation, Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press
White (1987), p. 11. - White, Hayden V. (1987), The Content of Form: Narrative Discourse and Historical Representation, Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press
White (1987), p. 16. - White, Hayden V. (1987), The Content of Form: Narrative Discourse and Historical Representation, Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press
White (1987), p. 7. - White, Hayden V. (1987), The Content of Form: Narrative Discourse and Historical Representation, Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press
Cicero, De Oratore, ii.12.52. /wiki/Cicero
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Servius, ad Aen. i.373. /wiki/Maurus_Servius_Honoratus
EB (1911). - Bémont, Charles (1911), "Annals", in Chisholm, Hugh (ed.), Encyclopædia Britannica, vol. 2 (11th ed.), Cambridge University Press, p. 61
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Latin: per singulos dies.[8] /wiki/Latin_language
EB (1878). - Baynes, T. S., ed. (1878), "Annals" , Encyclopædia Britannica, vol. 2 (9th ed.), New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, pp. 60–61 https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Encyclop%C3%A6dia_Britannica,_Ninth_Edition/Annals
EB (1878). - Baynes, T. S., ed. (1878), "Annals" , Encyclopædia Britannica, vol. 2 (9th ed.), New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, pp. 60–61 https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Encyclop%C3%A6dia_Britannica,_Ninth_Edition/Annals
EB (1878). - Baynes, T. S., ed. (1878), "Annals" , Encyclopædia Britannica, vol. 2 (9th ed.), New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, pp. 60–61 https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Encyclop%C3%A6dia_Britannica,_Ninth_Edition/Annals
EB (1878). - Baynes, T. S., ed. (1878), "Annals" , Encyclopædia Britannica, vol. 2 (9th ed.), New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, pp. 60–61 https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Encyclop%C3%A6dia_Britannica,_Ninth_Edition/Annals
Schwartz (1905), pp. 104 ff. - Schwartz, E. (1905), Christliche und jüdische Ostertafeln [Christian and Jewish Easter Tables], Berlin
Gibson (1903), p. 100. - Gibson, Margaret Dunlop (1903), The Didascalia Apostolorum in Syriac, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
Eusebius, Hist. Eccl., 7. /wiki/Eusebius_of_Caesarea
EB (1911). - Bémont, Charles (1911), "Annals", in Chisholm, Hugh (ed.), Encyclopædia Britannica, vol. 2 (11th ed.), Cambridge University Press, p. 61
Flechner (2013), pp. 422 ff. - Flechner, Roy (2013), "The Chronicle of Ireland: Then and Now", Early Medieval Europe, 21 (4): 422–54, doi:10.1111/emed.12025, S2CID 162982334 https://doi.org/10.1111%2Femed.12025
EB (1911). - Bémont, Charles (1911), "Annals", in Chisholm, Hugh (ed.), Encyclopædia Britannica, vol. 2 (11th ed.), Cambridge University Press, p. 61
EB (1911). - Bémont, Charles (1911), "Annals", in Chisholm, Hugh (ed.), Encyclopædia Britannica, vol. 2 (11th ed.), Cambridge University Press, p. 61
EB (1911). - Bémont, Charles (1911), "Annals", in Chisholm, Hugh (ed.), Encyclopædia Britannica, vol. 2 (11th ed.), Cambridge University Press, p. 61
EB (1911). - Bémont, Charles (1911), "Annals", in Chisholm, Hugh (ed.), Encyclopædia Britannica, vol. 2 (11th ed.), Cambridge University Press, p. 61