HISTORY 



American students do not need to be reminded at 

 length of the nature and extent of the contribution of 

 France to the modern study of history. To the age of 

 erudition France contributed the labors of the great 

 Benedictines and of pre-eminent individuals of the type 

 of Du CANGE, CUJAS, SCALIGER, and CASAUBON. In 

 the eighteenth century it took the lead in the application 

 of general ideas to history in the works of MONTESQUIEU 

 and VOLTAIRE. A century later it had its brilliant 

 group of literary historians, represented by RENAN, 

 TAINE, and MICHELET. It founded Egyptology, and pro- 

 duced the greatest of recent mediaevalists in Leopold 

 DELISLE. It has taken a notable part in the develop- 

 ment of the sciences auxiliary to history, in the publica- 

 tion of great collections of sources, and in the main- 

 tenance of schools and the encouragement of explora- 

 tion in the remoter portions of the earth. At the same 

 time, amid the vast accumulations of historical detail, 

 French historians have not lost their sense of proportion 

 or their interest in the larger aspects of history; without 

 sacrificing thoroughness of research or finish of work- 

 manship, they have also preserved qualities of clearness, 

 order, and literary skill which are characteristically French. 



Fields of Instruction. French universities offer a 

 wide range of instruction in the history of every period 



1 [Drafting Committee: C. H. HASKINS, Harvard University; 

 J. A. JAMES, Northwestern University; A. C. MCLAUGHLIN, University 

 of Chicago; D. C. MUNRO, Princeton University; J. T. SHOTWELL, 

 Columbia University. ED.] 



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