OF HISTORICAL LITERATURE COMPRISING BRIEF DESCRIPTIONS OF THE MOST IMPORTANT HISTORIES IN ENGLISH, FRENCH, AND GERMAN TOGETHER WITH PRACTICAL SUGGESTIONS AS TO METHODS AND COURSES OF HISTORICAL STUDY FOR THE USE OF Students, General Readers, and Collectors of Books BY CHARLES KENDALL ADAMS, LL.D. PROFESSOR OF HISTORY, AND PRESIDENT OF CORNELL UNIVERSITY . Facile est autem "Paucos enim, sunt eminentissimi, excerpere in animo est. THIRD EDITION, REVISED AND ENLARGED NEW YORK HARPER & BROTHERS, FRANKLIN SQUARE -KE3440 COLLEGE LIBRARY # 8,80110 043*1 Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1882, by In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington. Copyright, 1888, by HARPER & BROTHERS. All rights reserved. PREFACE. WHAT histories shall I read with most profit? What historical books shall I put into the hands of my son and my daughter? What course and what methods will be most advantageous to our historical club? What histories shall we buy for our town and college libraries? What shall I buy for my own library? These are questions that, in one form or another, I have often heard asked; but I have sought in vain for a volume that would answer them. Of books about books there is certainly no scarcity; but in all the twenty thousand volumes which a distinguished librarian recently declared to be necessary for the proper bibliographical outfit for a great public library, I do not know of one that can be put into the hands of a student of general history with any justifiable confidence that it will guide him aright in the prosecution of his researches. But for the want of such a volume, I should not have ventured to undertake what may seem to many like trying to add to the infinite. The need which seemed to justify the undertaking has given form to the work produced. It has been my constant desire and aim to provide a book such as would have been of most service to me when, as a university student, I was reaching out in various directions for help in carrying on my historical studies. What I then wanted was guidance in the selection of books; and such guidance involved not simply critical reviews, but also careful descriptions and characterizations; not only information whether a given book approached an ideal standard of excellence, but also whether it was the best authority accessible on the subject |