Early European History. Hutton Webster
The most convenient short treatment; lavishly illustrated.
* Gibbon, Edward. The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, edited by J. B. Bury (N. Y., 1914, Macmillan, 7 vols., $25.00). The best edition, illustrated and provided with maps, of this standard work.
* Green, J. R. Short History of the English People, edited by Mrs. J. R. Green and Miss Kate Norgate (N. Y., 1893–1895, Harper, 4 vols., $20.00). A beautifully illustrated edition of this standard work.
Guerber, H. A. Legends of the Middle Ages (N. Y., 1896, American Book Co., $1.50).
Haskins, C. H. The Normans in European History (Boston, 1915, Houghton Mifflin Co., $2.00).
Hodgkin, Thomas. The Dynasty of Theodosius (N. Y., 1899, Oxford University Press, American Branch, $1.50). Popular lectures summarizing the author's extensive studies.
Jessopp, Augustus. The Coming of the Friars, and Other Historic Essays (N. Y., 1888, Putnam, $1.25). A book of great interest.
* Lacroix, Paul. Science and Literature in the Middle Ages and at the Period of the Renaissance (London, 1880, Bickers and Son, out of print).
Lawrence, W. W. Medieval Story (N. Y., 1911, Columbia University Press, $i.50). Discusses the great literary productions of the Middle Ages.
Mawer, Allen. The Vikings (N. Y, 1913, Putnam, 35 cents).
Munro, D. C., and Sellery, G. C Medieval Civilization (2d ed., N. Y., 1907, Century Co., $2.00). Translated selections from standard works by French and German scholars.
Rait, R. S. Life in the Medieval University (N. Y., 1912, Putnam, 35 cents). "Cambridge Manuals."
Synge, M. B. A Short History of Social Life in England (N. Y., 1906, Barnes, $1.50).
Tappan, Eva M. When Knights were Bold (Boston, 1912, Houghton Mifflin Co., $2.00). An economic and social study of the Feudal Age; charmingly written.
Tickner, F. W. A Social and Industrial History of England (N. Y., 1915, Longmans, Green, and Co., $1.00). Very simply written and well illustrated.
* Wright, Thomas. The Homes of Other Days (London, 1871, Trübner, out of print). Valuable for both text and illustrations.
TRANSITION TO MODERN TIMES
Cheyney, E. P. European Background of American History, 1300–1600 (N. Y., 1904, Harper, $2.00).
Creighton, Mandell. The Age of Elizabeth (13th ed., N. Y., 1897, Scribner, $ 1.00). "Epochs of Modern History."
Fiske, John. The Discovery and Colonization of North America (Boston, 1905, Ginn, 90 cents).
Gardiner, S. R. The Thirty Years' War (N. Y., 1874, Scribner, $1.00).
Goodyear, W. H. Renaissance and Modern Art (N. Y., 1894, Macmillan, $1.00).
Hudson, W. H. The Story of the Renaissance (N. Y., 1912, Cassell, $1.50). A well-written volume.
Hulme, E. M. The Renaissance, the Protestant Revolution, and the Catholic Reformation in Continental Europe (rev. ed., N. Y., 1915, Century Co., $2.50). The best work on the subject by an American scholar.
* Joyce, T. A. Mexican Archaeology (N. Y., 1914, Putnam, $4.00).
———South American Archaeology (N. Y., 1912, Putnam, $3.50).
Kerr, P. H., and Kerr, A. C. The Growth of the British Empire (N. Y., 1911, Longmans, Green, and Co., 50 cents).
Oldham, J. B. The Renaissance (N. Y., 1912, Dutton, 35 cents).
Seebohm, Frederic. The Era of the Protestant Revolution (N. Y., 1875, Scribner, $1.00). "Epochs of Modern History."
CHAPTER I
THE AGES BEFORE HISTORY
1. THE STUDY OF HISTORY
SUBJECT MATTER OF HISTORY
History is the narrative of what civilized man has done. It deals with those social groups called states and nations. Just as biography describes the life of individuals, so history relates the rise, progress, and decline of human societies.
MANUSCRIPTS AND BOOKS
History cannot go back of written records. These alone will preserve a full and accurate account of man's achievements. Manuscripts and books form one class of written records. The old Babylonians used tablets of soft clay, on which signs were impressed with a metal instrument. The tablets were then baked hard in an oven. The Egyptians made a kind of paper out of the papyrus, a plant native to the Nile valley. The Greeks and Romans at first used papyrus, but later they employed the more lasting parchment prepared from sheepskin. Paper seems to have been a Chinese invention. It was introduced into Europe by the Arabs during the twelfth century of our era.
[Illustration: THE DISK OF PHAESTUS Found in 1908 A.D. in the palace at Phaestus, Crete. The disk is of refined clay on which the figures were stamped in relief with punches. Both sides of the disk are covered with characters. The side seen in the illustration contains 31 sign groups (123 signs) separated from one another by incised lines. The other side contains 30 sign groups (118 signs). The inscription dates from about 1800 B.C.]
[Illustration: A PAPYRUS MANUSCRIPT The pith of the papyrus, a plant native to the Nile valley, was cut into slices, which were then pressed together and dried in the sun. Several of the paper sheets thus formed were glued together at their edges to form a roll. From papyros and byblos, the two Greek names of this plant, have come our own words, "paper" and "Bible." The illustration shows a manuscript discovered in Egypt in 1890 A.D. It is supposed to be a treatise, hitherto lost, on the Athenian constitution by the Greek philosopher Aristotle.]
INSCRIPTIONS AND REMAINS
A second class of written records consists of inscriptions. These are usually cut in stone, but sometimes we find them painted over the surface of a wall, stamped on coins, or impressed upon metal tablets. The historian also makes use of remains, such as statues, ornaments, weapons, tools, and utensils. Monuments of various sorts, including palaces, tombs, fortresses, bridges, temples, and churches, form a very important class of remains.
BEGINNINGS OF HISTORY
History, based on written records, begins in different countries at varying dates. A few manuscripts and inscriptions found in Egypt date back three or four thousand years before Christ. The annals of Babylonia are scarcely less ancient. Trustworthy records in China and India do not extend beyond 1000 B.C. For the Greeks and Romans the commencement of the historic period must be placed about 750 B.C. The inhabitants of northern Europe did not come into the light of history until about the opening of the Christian era.
2. PREHISTORIC PEOPLES
THE PREHISTORIC PERIOD
In studying the historic period our chief concern is with those peoples whose ideas or whose deeds have aided human progress and the spread of civilization. Six-sevenths of the earth's inhabitants now belong to civilized countries, and these countries include the best and largest regions of the globe. At the beginning of historic times, however, civilization was confined within a narrow area—the river valleys of western Asia and Egypt. The uncounted centuries before the dawn of history make up the prehistoric period, when savagery and barbarism prevailed throughout the world. Our knowledge of it is derived from the examination of the objects found in caves, refuse mounds, graves, and other sites. Various European countries,