Merriam-Webster Collegiate Dictionary - historiography

 noun  Date: 1569  1.  a. the writing of history; especially the writing of history based on the critical examination of sources, the selection of particulars from the authentic materials, and the synthesis of particulars into a narrative that will stand the test of critical methods  b. the principles, theory, and history of historical writing a course in ~  2. the product of historical writing ; a body of historical literature  • historiographical also historiographic adjective  • historiographically adverb