The Race of Time. Three Lectures on Renaissance Historiography.

Baker, Herschel:

Published by Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1967

About this Item

110 p. Vorbesitzer Vermerk auf dem Vorsatz mit Kugelschreiber, ansonsten ein sehr gutes und sauberes Exemplar ohne Anstreichungen. Previous owner's note on the endpaper in ballpoint pen, otherwise a very good and clean copy without markings. -- Contents -- Preface -- 1 The Truth of History -- 2 The Use of History -- 3 The Form of History -- Notes -- (publishing text:) The Alexander Lectures for 1965 at the University of Toronto dealt with the relations of the English Renaissance his- torians to other writers of their time and to the historians of later ages. In the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, even more than in our own time, the materials and techniques proper to historical writ- ing were but vaguely defined. When the facts at his disposal were suspect or were merely crystallizations of fancy and legend, the Renaissance historian found that he was unable to deal with them without encroaching on the territory of the poet. When- inevitably - he attemp- ted to draw conclusions from his view of the past and of human nature, he usurped the function of the philosopher. And even when he stayed within the bounds of indisputable fact he risked offending monarchs to whom certain facts, if widely known, would be danger- ous. All these difficulties, and the ways in which Renaissance historians faced or avoided them, are recounted and ana- lysed in Professor Baker's lectures. Sup- ported and enlivened with a wealth of quotation from the historians themselves, their critics, and their colleagues, The Race of Time illuminates the problems of historiography in an age when academic freedom was always subservi- ent to the national interest, to the sensi- tivity of rulers, to the prevalence of legend, and to the envy of contemporaries. HERSCHEL BAKER was born in Texas, and is a graduate of Southern Methodist and Harvard universities. He began his teach- ing career at the University of Texas and in 1946 went to Harvard, where he has served as Chairman of the Department of English from 1952 to 1957 and from 1965 to the present. Professor Baker's special interests are intellectual history, Renaissance literature, and English Romanticism. His publications include John Philip Kemble, The Dignity of Man, The Wars of Truth, William Hazlitt, and (in collaboration with the late Hyder Rollins) The Renaissance in England. Sprache: Englisch Gewicht in Gramm: 250.

Seller Inventory # 1259359

Bibliographic Details

• Title: The Race of Time. Three Lectures on Renaissance Historiography.
• Publisher: Toronto: University of Toronto Press
• Publication Date: 1967
• Language: English
• Binding: Hardcover with dust jacket.
• Condition: Sehr gut
• Weight: 250 grams
• Seller catalogs:
  • Renaissance