Bibliography of British History: Tudor Period, 1485-1603 by Conyers ReadReview by: Godfrey DaviesThe American Historical Review, Vol. 39, No. 3 (Apr., 1934), pp. 504-506Published by: Oxford University Press on behalf of the American Historical AssociationStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1840154 .

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504 Reviews of Books

tion in addition to the central government (an extension vital to their success) and that in so doing they followed a well-established tradition.

The Petition of the Barons and the resultant Provisions of Westminster contain various articles to the advantage of rear vassals. Why were they intro- duced? "The Provisions", says the author, "represent a genuine effort at reform in the interests of all freemen". "It says much for the baronial re- formers in the council and for the baronage as a whole that in spite of strong opposition these reforms were passsed by the very class that would be most hampered by them, at a time when that class completely dominated the politi- cal situation. The baronial council was not moved by selfish class interests in this matter". It may be so. But we should also call attention to the fact that the barons were following consistent royal precedent in these articles. In the charter of Henry I. and in Magna Carta, the king declared that his barons must observe the feudal rules toward their men. Let us remember, more- over, that the feudal system in England was no pyramid; that tenants in chief were also rear vassals; that these conditions of transposition were fostered by the constant and increasing custom of alienating land. Thus any regulation that protected the rights of rear vassals in I258 could not fail to protect the rights of those who were also tenants in chief. Had the barons therefore in the Provisions of Westminster any aim other than their own interests? At least, we must call attention to the fact that their design in these respects may have been thoroughly "practical" rather than idealistic.

No one has gone deeper into the history of the period than Professor Treharne. He has in every way added to our knowledge; and his spirit, his enthusiasm, and constant suggestive interpretation can only stimulate new interest in this important field.

Yale University. SYDNEY K. MITCHELL.

BOOKS OF MODERN EUROPEAN HISTORY

Bibliography of British History: Tutdor Period, I485-i603. Edited by CONYERS READ. [Issued under the Direction of the American Histori- cal Association and the Royal Historical Society of Great Britain.] Oxford: Clarendon Press; New York: Oxford University Press. 1933. Pp. xxiii, 467. $8.50.) THERE is no doubt at all that this is an extremely useful work. The editor

is already preeminent among historians as the author of Mr. Secretary Wal- singham, but it is doubtful whether even thiat monumental work will be more prized by students of Tudor history than this bibliography. It is necessary to insist upon its merits, for it is almost inevitable that a review should partake of the nature of a criticism. The main difficulties that beset the bibliographer are three-the gathering and selecting of material, its organization, and its

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Read: Bibliography of the Tudor Period 505

accurate presentation. It is convenient to follow here this threefold division. Whoever is dissatisfied with the amount of material listed in this work is

hard to please. Indeed, he is more likely to complain that a sharp ax has not been brought to bear upon dead wood, than that any fertile land has been neglected. This criticism is especially true of chapters XI. and XII. Both "Local History" and "Scotland" contain a number of works which might well be left forgotten or which have no special significance for the i6th century. Perhaps the one legitimate complaint that might be raised against any section on the ground of inadequacy should be levied against chapter X., and par- ticularly against section 2. It is doubtful whether the ordinary student will be able to derive much profit from this very miscellaneous group of titles, which, in addition tco being incomplete, seems ill-arranged. Perhaps the worst errors are the omissions of Clark S. Northup's Register of Bibliographies of the English Language and Literature and of Arthur G. Kennedy's Bibli- ography of Writings on the English Language; and to leave out Jusserand's Literary History is almost as bad, because it is strong in historical and cultural elements. It seems strange to include a work of which it is said that it "treats the folk aspect of Elizabethan drama", and to omit the lives of Shakespeare by Sidney Lee and J. Q. Adams. It seems characteristic of the general out- look on literature that the only place that could be found for Shakespeare's England is under "Economics". The annual bibliography of English Renais- sance literature in Studies in Philology is edited by Hardin Craig alone.

It is probable that no two people would ever agree on the details of the arrangement of so many titles as are supplied; and to the usual difficulties of arrangement are added, in this case, the disposal of many titles which belong more properly to a general volume, such as was once contemplated by the Association and Society responsible for this volume, than to a volume confined to a single period. The sectional arrangement, especially when it takes the form of segregating all the publications of the Historical Manuscripts Com- mission, is not likely to please all readers, who might perhaps ask that, for the sake of consistency, the calendars of documents preserved in the Public Record Office should also be kept together.

The usual way in which a title is listed here is to begin with the author's name, then the title follows, and last comes the editor's name, introduced with the word "By" (not with "Ed. by"). The result is that Shakespeare's England, is attributed to C. T. Onions, although his name does not appear in any capacity on the title-page (date of publication should be I9I6, not 1917). Sometimes a composite work is said to be by its printer or publisher (e.g., No. 1671). This system has other inconveniences, for an entry of the following type certainly has an odd look: "562a BOUILLON ET DE SANCY EN ANGLETERRE en I596... Negociations de MM. de. By [G. H.] Gaillard". The items are arranged in the alphabetical order of their authors' names, or

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So6 Reviews of Books

of their titles when there are no authors' names. As the names are listed in the index, this procedure seems to do the same thing twice over.

The number of errors that have been detected is not large in proportion to the number of facts supplied. The section on "Chronicles" perhaps is a fair sample. In addition to the unfortunate note about the "great chronicle" (No. 284) and slips about the early editions of Hall's "Union of the two noble and illustre famelies York and Lancaster" [sic], No. 285 has no title and No. 286 has only an abbreviated title, with the order of the words changed. Under "Local History", perhaps Gloucestershire should not be regarded as typical, for Hyett and Austin produced their biographical Supplement in two vol- umes; while Norris Mathews's Bristol Bibliography and St. Clair Baddeley's History of Cirencester should have been mentioned, and, possibly, Bristol Lists by A. B. Beaven (whose name does not appear in the index).

A certain lack of uniformity is inevitable. Perhaps one of the most serious examples of varying usage is provided by the practice of some compilers in using the exact title, and in trying to preserve its archaic spelling, etc., and to indicate omissions, whereas others modernize spelling and do not indicate omissions. The latter are the more commendable, for the former make mis- takes in almost every entry. A comparison with the originals of six of the entries on two pages (pp. 154-I55) of one of the best sections revealed trivial slips in five of the titles-usually about one in every line. Incidentally, it is rather a waste of space to list No. I669, for it is reprinted in A Parte of a Reg- ister. Moreover, in some cases, apparently an arbitrary title has been assigned, such as "Calendar of State Papers, Spanish". Occasionally the first significant word of an anonymous title is omitted, which would make it very hard to find in a catalogue (e.g., No. 491). Perhaps more space might have been allowed to the contents-of collections. Certainly under An English Garner mention should have been made of the Tudor pamphlets separately reprinted and edited by A. F. Pollard.

No doubt it would not be difficult to extend the list of corrigenda or to find things one would rather have otherwise. Nevertheless, this work will fulfill competently the purpose for which it was designed and will be a friend in need alike to the scholar and to the novice.

The Huntington Library. GODFREY DAVIES.

T'he Celtic Peoples and Renaissance Europe: a Study of the Celtic and Spanish Influzences on Elizabethan History. By DAVID MATHEW. With an Introduction by Christopher Dawson. (New York: Sheed and Ward. 1933. Pp. xv, 525. $5.oo.) THE title of this book is rather ample for its contents. It confinies its atten-

tioIn in the main to that part of Renaissance Europe which was Elizabethan England, and that part of the Celtic peoples which made its home in the

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