C UR,RENT LITERATURE.
BUCKLE'S "HISTORY OP CIVILISATION."
Introduction to the History of Civilisation in England. By Henry Thomas Buckle. New and Revised Edition, with Anno- tations and an Introduction by John M. Robertson. (George Routledge and Sons. 5s.)—Buckle's famous work was first pub- lished between 1857-61 in two volumes. The work is here repro- duced in its entirety with all its notes and many fresh annotations. It was a remarkable effort, and will always be a memorial of the vast accumulation of learning that Buckle possessed; and it is therefore well worthy of a new and annotated edition. Whether it was wise to put the price as low as it is, and thus necessitate the use of excessively small print in order to bring the work within the compass of one volume, may be doubted. However, as a work of reference it will be useful enough in this compact form. The fact that new and valuable footnotes have been added by Mr. Robertson will enhance the worth of the volume. Its chief value for the present generation is the collection of facts and the references to authorities. The work does not belong to the ago of scientific history, and its author did not possess the peculiar genius or the immortal style of Gibbon. To what extent the work is now read it is difficult to ascertain ; but it is certainly one which historical students must possess, for it reflects the intellectual attitude towards history that obtained in the mid-nineteenth century, when historical writers were still largely under the influence of Hallam. It is to the school of Hume and Rallam that Buckle belonged, and his work will eventually be ranked with theirs, coequal in popular neglect if not altogether in scholarly esteem.
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