Proceedings of the American Antiquarian Society (Volume N.S. - V.17 (1905-06)) (Paperback)

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1907. Excerpt: ... THE POINT OF VIEW IN HISTORY. BY WILLIAM E. FOSTER. What is history? Is it, essentially, science; or is it, essentially, literature; or must we make a still different answer to the question? Although the problem involved in these questions is by no means new, it has hardly ever been discussed with greater earnestness than in our own day, nor has it perhaps been discussed with greater frequency than during the last twenty-five years. During this period have appeared the various publications by the German historian, Lamprecht, relating to history, including his latest volume of lectures,1 which has been translated into English under the suggestively interrogative title: --"What is history?" The literature of the subject, as a whole, is most voluminous;9 and the answers to this very question, direct or implied, are bewilderingly diverse. In the Eighteenth Century Montesquieu seemed to conceive of history as based very decidedly on physiography, or the study of the earth's surface.3 lLamprecht, Karl. Moderne Geschichtswissenschaft. Freiburg im Breisgau H. Heyfelder. 1905. This is translated into English under the following title: "What is history? Five lectures on the modern science of history Translated from the German by E. A. Andrews;" New York. The Macmillan Co., 1905. 'On the literature of the subject, in general, a very useful "Bibliography of the study and teaching of history" has been prepared by James Ingersoll Wyer, Jr., and published in the "Annual report" of the American Historical Association, 1899, v. I, p. 559-012. There should also be noted the more than one hundred citations included in the "Notes" appended to Lord Acton's inaugural lecture at Cambridge, on "The study of history," (p. 75-142), London: Macmillan & Co., 1895; also Dr. William Pr...