RENIER, G. N. History, Its Purpose and Method. Pp. 272. Boston: The Beacon Press, 1950. $3.00
| DOI | 10.1177/000271625127400156 |
| Published date | 01 March 1951 |
| Author | Garland Downum |
| Date | 01 March 1951 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
228
to
him
by
his
contemporaries.
How
much
new
light
will
thus
be
thrown
on
the
history
of
his
period,
as
well
as
on
the
mind
and
personality
of
Jefferson,
cannot
yet
be
fully
appreciated.
But
the
editors
offer
a
clue,
quantitatively
at
least,
in
their
statement
that
previous
selections
have
included
only
one-third
of
the
more
than
eighteen
thou-
sand
letters
written
by
Jefferson
himself
and
only
one-fifteenth
of
the
still
larger
correspondence
addressed
to
him.
The
opening
volume,
covering
the
years
from
1760
to
1776,
transports
the
reader
through
the
experiences
of
an
eighteen-
year-old
youth,
who
wished
to
&dquo;pursue
my
Studies
in
the
Greek
and
Latin ...
and
likewise
learn
something
of
Mathematics&dquo;
to
the
thirty-four-year-old
man
who
drafted
the
Declaration
o
f Independence.
Some
of
the
celebrated
Jeffersonian
characteristics
are
well
attested
in
this
volume-the
scholarship
and
rhythmic
phrasing,
the
many-sidedness,
the
broad
grasp
of
prin-
ciple
and
painstaking
care
for
detail,
the
elevated
vision,
and
the
earthy
sagacity.
The
documents
of
greatest
political
signif-
icance,
such
as
the
Declaration
of
the
Causes
and
Necessity
for taking
up
Arms,
the
Virginia
Constitution,
and
the
Declara-
tion
of
Independence,
are
introduced
by
expert
editorial
discussions
concerning
the
stages
of
the
drafting
process
and
the
respective
contributions
of
Jefferson
and
others
to
the
final
form.
The
book
reads,
therefore,
as
more
than
a
mere
collection
of
documents.
It
serves
as
an
X-ray
into
the
functioning
of
a
mind
of
rare
quality.
LESLIE
LIPSON
University
of
California
GOTTSCHALK,
LOUIS.
Understanding
His-
tory ;
A
Primer
of
Historical
Method.
Pp.
xix,
290,
vii.
New
York:
Alfred
A.
Knopf,
1950.
Text
ed.
$2.50;
library ed.
$3.25.
This
is
a
very
helpful,
stimulating
volume
which,
while
achieving
its
aim
as
a
primer
or
laboratory
manual
of
historical
method
for
the
student
of
history,
will
hold
the
layman
who
is
concerned
about
the
public
value
of
a
&dquo;knowing&dquo;
reading
of
history.
In
a
readable
manner,
the
Chicago
pro-
fessor,
who
looks
upon
history
as
partaking
of
&dquo;the
nature
of
science,
art,
and
philos-
ophy,&dquo;
examines
the
objectives
of
histo-
rians,
then
the
methods,
and,
finally,
the
theory
of
history.
&dquo;Despite
persistent
and
widespread
ap-
prehensions,&dquo;
Gottschalk
notes,
&dquo;the
use
of
social
science
generalizations
by
the
histo-
rian
is
increasing&dquo;
(p.
252).
But
as
a
reminder,
&dquo;some
social-science
concepts
are
based
upon
historical
examples
that
the
historian
(or
the
social
scientist
as
histo-
rian)
has
selected
only
because
he
was
interested
in
or
under
the
influence
of
that
very
concept.&dquo;
The
author
has
in
effect
achieved
a
cogent
and
urbane
statement
of
the
value
of
history
and
historians
without
being
in-
hospitable
to
other
disciplines.
Indeed,
one
wishes
that
rather
abrupt
sections
on
&dquo;his-
tory
and
psychology&dquo;
and
&dquo;historical
gen-
eralizations&dquo;
could
have
been
amplified,
or
that
they
may
be
developed
later,
by
this
perceptive
scholar.
RICHARD
H.
HEINDEL
Washington,
D.
C.
RENIER,
G.
N.
History,
Its
Purpose
and
Method.
Pp.
272.
Boston:
The
Beacon
Press,
1950.
$3.00.
This
book
is
a
tightly
written,
broadly
considered
plea
for
the
application
of
prag-
matism
to
the
writing
of
history.
Histor-
ical
skills
guided
by
an
ethical
imperative
should
replace
absolute
standards,
Renier
argues,
for
realism, idealism,
Marxism,
and
theologies,
being
absolute
and
dogmatic,
are
unreal
and
impractical
guides.
The
prag-
matism
of
William
James
as
matured
by
John
Dewey
is
his
inspiration.
The
book’s
framework
is
useful
for
its
own
description.
Part
One,
&dquo;What
is
His-
tory ?&dquo;,
distinguishes
semantically
between
history
as
events
and
history
as
an
account
of
events.
Here
Renier
demonstrates
the
usefulness
of
history
in
managing
society
and
in
meeting
fundamental
psychological
needs.
In Part
Two,
&dquo;The
Detection
of
Events,&dquo;
Renier
examines
methodolgy.
Per-
haps
most
distinctive
is
his
substitution
of
&dquo;trace&dquo;
for
&dquo;source&dquo;
on
the
grounds
that
the
preferred
term
implies
that
the
&dquo;trace&dquo;
is
a
part
of
an
event
which
can
be
detected
by
working
backwards
from
the
trace
by
the
employment
of
critical
apparatus,
dis-
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