“The Normal Exception”: Edoardo Grendi, Microanalysis, and Generalizations*

ABSTRACT “The normal exception” has long been a slogan of microhistory. This oxymoronic phrase is the iconic rendering of an incidental sentence that appeared in a 1977 article by Edoardo Grendi. His article, titled “Micro‐analisi e storia sociale” (Microanalysis and Social History), is cited more often than it is read. In this issue of History and Theory , Grendi's seminal article appears in English for the first time. This companion piece introduces Grendi's contribution by situating it within contemporary debates between historians and anthropologists. It also sheds light on the fate of the concept of “the normal exception” among its supporters and detractors. Finally, it clarifies some of the possibilities that other Italian microhistorians have laid out for deriving generalizations from case studies.