The Cartulary of the Abbey of Saint-Bertin, St-Omer, represents one of the earliest and most important resources for Carolingian monastic life and the era of Benedictine reform. Begun by the monk Folquin around 962, the collection of charters, arranged chronologically, extends from the seventh century until 1178. It remains an invaluable witness to the political, economic, and diplomatic history of this powerful abbey, as well as to the historiographic impulses of its compilers. One of the first cartularies to arrange legal and administrative documents in chronicle form, the Cartulary of the...

The son of a printer and bookshop owner, Auguste Bernard (1811 1868) quit his studies at the age of seventeen to become a typographer at the Parisian printing house of Firmin Didot, before becoming an editor with the royal printer. Bernard spent his leisure time collecting documents on the history of the people and customs of the ancient province of Forez (roughly, the area of the Loire valley). He is best known for his histories of typography and printing in France and Europe, his most celebrated work being his biography of Geoffroy Tory, the first French royal printer. He published in 1853...

The son of a printer and bookshop owner, Auguste Bernard (1811 1868) quit his studies at the age of seventeen to become a typographer at the Parisian printing house of Firmin Didot, before becoming an editor with the royal printer. Bernard spent his leisure time collecting documents on the history of the people and customs of the ancient province of Forez (roughly, the area of the Loire valley). He is best known for his histories of typography and printing in France and Europe, his most celebrated work being his biography of Geoffroy Tory, the first French royal printer. He published in 1853...

In this 1864 publication, prolific French historian Henri Doniol (1818 1906) reproduces documents recorded from the early tenth to the late twelfth century in the monastic commune of Sauxillanges, in the Auvergne region of central France. These records cover every aspect of daily life from manorial rights and business notes to children's education. While the original manuscripts have been missing for almost four centuries, Doniol had access to a seventeenth-century copy of the cartulary. The documents are reproduced here in the original Latin, with extensive annotations in French. Doniol's...

Sierra Leone in West Africa is the subject of this 1803 work by English physician Thomas Winterbottom (1766 1859). In the 1790s he spent four years there working for the Sierra Leone Company (established by abolitionists to resettle ex-slaves), and combating diseases such as malaria and scurvy. He displays none of the pejorative views of Africa or its inhabitants that some of his contemporaries expressed, but has a very positive opinion of the country. Winterbottom describes the women as beautiful and graceful, and he dismisses racial differentiations based on skin colour as being absurd. In...

Sierra Leone in West Africa is the subject of this 1803 work by English physician Thomas Winterbottom (1766 1859). In the 1790s he spent four years there working for the Sierra Leone Company (established by abolitionists to resettle ex-slaves), and combating diseases such as malaria and scurvy. He displays none of the pejorative views of Africa or its inhabitants that some of his contemporaries expressed, but has a very positive opinion of the country. Winterbottom describes the women as beautiful and graceful, and he dismisses racial differentiations based on skin colour as being absurd. In...

Having obtained a first class degree in mathematics from Wadham College, Oxford, Walter Waddingham Shirley (1828 66) taught mathematics there before turning his attention to ecclesiastical history. Shirley earned a reputation amongst his contemporaries as an objective researcher with a clear writing style, and he was considered one of the ablest of the new Oxford historians. The Fasciculi, first published in 1858, is a collection of documents relating to John Wycliffe and his followers. The earliest texts reproduced in this volume are three partial determinations against Wycliffe dating from...

Goldwin Smith (1823 1910) was a British historian and journalist. After studying at Magdalen College, Oxford, Smith became a leading advocate of university reform before being appointed Regius Professor of Modern History at Oxford in 1858. He resigned his position in 1866, and spent two years lecturing at Cornell University before moving to Toronto following his marriage in 1875. He was considered by contemporaries a leading proponent of left-wing intellectual radicalism. This volume, first published in 1863, contains a collection of letters written by Smith concerning British colonial...

Sir Walter Scott (1771 1832) was a prolific Scottish poet and historical novelist who was one of the most popular romantic novelists of the nineteenth century. After studying law at Edinburgh University, Scott first started writing at the age of 25. Having made his name as a poet, he wrote the phenomenally successful novel Waverley in 1814 and was made a baronet in 1820. These volumes, first published in 1827, contain Scott's detailed biography of Napoleon Bonaparte (1769 1821). Including a detailed review of the French Revolution, Scott focuses on Napoleon's legacy to France and his military...

Sir Walter Scott (1771 1832) was a prolific Scottish poet and historical novelist who was one of the most popular romantic novelists of the nineteenth century. After studying law at Edinburgh University, Scott first started writing at the age of 25. Having made his name as a poet, he wrote the phenomenally successful novel Waverley in 1814 and was made a baronet in 1820. These volumes, first published in 1827, contain Scott's detailed biography of Napoleon Bonaparte (1769 1821). Including a detailed review of the French Revolution, Scott focuses on Napoleon's legacy to France and his military...