Loading…
Herbert Butterfield and the Study of History
In 1931 Herbert Butterfield, precisely as old as the century, published a short book entitled The whig interpretation of history. It made him famous, and for the next forty years or so he stood forth as one of the leading voices in the profession. His voluminous writings in books and essays were rea...
Saved in:
Published in: | The Historical journal 1984-09, Vol.27 (3), p.729-743 |
---|---|
Main Author: | |
Format: | Article |
Language: | English |
Subjects: | |
Citations: | Items that this one cites Items that cite this one |
Online Access: | Get full text |
Tags: |
Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
|
cited_by | cdi_FETCH-LOGICAL-c291t-58ffcde58c0c4cc70facffbdc0aca7669cebc4fc0fc4700be2fd39054b82ab623 |
---|---|
cites | cdi_FETCH-LOGICAL-c291t-58ffcde58c0c4cc70facffbdc0aca7669cebc4fc0fc4700be2fd39054b82ab623 |
container_end_page | 743 |
container_issue | 3 |
container_start_page | 729 |
container_title | The Historical journal |
container_volume | 27 |
creator | Elton, G. R. |
description | In 1931 Herbert Butterfield, precisely as old as the century, published a short book entitled The whig interpretation of history. It made him famous, and for the next forty years or so he stood forth as one of the leading voices in the profession. His voluminous writings in books and essays were read avidly by schoolmasters and their pupils, by students and – less regularly – by dons; to a wide range of educated and reflective people not themselves historians he represented the voice of history in England. He added a further dimension to his image when singlehandedly and with considerable courage he engaged the then dominant Namierite school of eighteenth-century studies; though he cannot be said to have triumphed in that battle, he emerged from it with honour and with the satisfaction of having been able to crack the crystalline selfregard of the opposing party in several places. Those who knew only the voice, on paper at that, were liable to be profoundly disconcerted when they encountered him: no whitebearded old testament prophet after all, preaching stern simplicities, but a clean-shaven (often somewhatrazored) man permanently about thirty-five years old, brisk, cheerful, responsive, entertaining, variously chain-smoking or sworn off cigarettes altogether, always courteous, never pompous. It might be thought that today, less than four years after his death, it is yet too early to venture upon an assessment of his achievement, but it seems to me desirable that the task should be attempted by one who still remembers the famous Butterfield giggle while reading the Butterfield writings. My own special qualification, I would claim, lies in the fact that I knew him but not all that closely and did not belong to his circle (which tended to be based on Peterhouse); in thirty years of sharing the same history faculty with him I do not remember ever once seriously talking history with him. |
doi_str_mv | 10.1017/S0018246X00018057 |
format | article |
fullrecord | <record><control><sourceid>jstor_proqu</sourceid><recordid>TN_cdi_proquest_journals_1299030873</recordid><sourceformat>XML</sourceformat><sourcesystem>PC</sourcesystem><cupid>10_1017_S0018246X00018057</cupid><jstor_id>2639277</jstor_id><sourcerecordid>2639277</sourcerecordid><originalsourceid>FETCH-LOGICAL-c291t-58ffcde58c0c4cc70facffbdc0aca7669cebc4fc0fc4700be2fd39054b82ab623</originalsourceid><addsrcrecordid>eNp1UE1Lw0AQXUTBWv0BgoeAV6Ozu8lu9qiirVAQW4Xelv3U1Lapmw3Yf29CShHE0wzz3pt5bxA6x3CNAfObGQAuSMbm0DWQ8wM0wBkTaY6BHqJBN007_Bid1PWiZbEM8ABdjV3QLsTkronRBV-6pU3U2ibxwyWz2NhtUvlkXNaxCttTdOTVsnZnuzpEb48Pr_fjdPI8erq_naSGCBzTvPDeWJcXBkxmDAevjPfaGlBGccaEcdpk3oA3GQfQjnhLBeSZLojSjNAhuuz3bkL11bg6ykXVhHV7UmIiBFAoOG1ZuGeZUNV1cF5uQrlSYSsxyO4p8s9TWs1Fr1l0gfYCwqggvIPTHm7zuu89rMKnZJzyXLLRixR4OhLT-VTilk93FtRKh9K-u19O_zXxA2m-fCI</addsrcrecordid><sourcetype>Aggregation Database</sourcetype><iscdi>true</iscdi><recordtype>article</recordtype><pqid>1299030873</pqid></control><display><type>article</type><title>Herbert Butterfield and the Study of History</title><source>JSTOR Archival Journals and Primary Sources Collection</source><source>Cambridge University Press:JISC Collections:Full Collection Digital Archives (STM and HSS) (218 titles)</source><creator>Elton, G. R.</creator><creatorcontrib>Elton, G. R.</creatorcontrib><description>In 1931 Herbert Butterfield, precisely as old as the century, published a short book entitled The whig interpretation of history. It made him famous, and for the next forty years or so he stood forth as one of the leading voices in the profession. His voluminous writings in books and essays were read avidly by schoolmasters and their pupils, by students and – less regularly – by dons; to a wide range of educated and reflective people not themselves historians he represented the voice of history in England. He added a further dimension to his image when singlehandedly and with considerable courage he engaged the then dominant Namierite school of eighteenth-century studies; though he cannot be said to have triumphed in that battle, he emerged from it with honour and with the satisfaction of having been able to crack the crystalline selfregard of the opposing party in several places. Those who knew only the voice, on paper at that, were liable to be profoundly disconcerted when they encountered him: no whitebearded old testament prophet after all, preaching stern simplicities, but a clean-shaven (often somewhatrazored) man permanently about thirty-five years old, brisk, cheerful, responsive, entertaining, variously chain-smoking or sworn off cigarettes altogether, always courteous, never pompous. It might be thought that today, less than four years after his death, it is yet too early to venture upon an assessment of his achievement, but it seems to me desirable that the task should be attempted by one who still remembers the famous Butterfield giggle while reading the Butterfield writings. My own special qualification, I would claim, lies in the fact that I knew him but not all that closely and did not belong to his circle (which tended to be based on Peterhouse); in thirty years of sharing the same history faculty with him I do not remember ever once seriously talking history with him.</description><identifier>ISSN: 0018-246X</identifier><identifier>EISSN: 1469-5103</identifier><identifier>DOI: 10.1017/S0018246X00018057</identifier><language>eng</language><publisher>Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press</publisher><subject>Christian history ; Diplomatic history ; Faith ; Historians ; History instruction ; History of science ; Lectures ; Literary criticism ; Marxist history ; Military history</subject><ispartof>The Historical journal, 1984-09, Vol.27 (3), p.729-743</ispartof><rights>Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1984</rights><rights>Copyright 1984 Cambridge University Press</rights><lds50>peer_reviewed</lds50><woscitedreferencessubscribed>false</woscitedreferencessubscribed><citedby>FETCH-LOGICAL-c291t-58ffcde58c0c4cc70facffbdc0aca7669cebc4fc0fc4700be2fd39054b82ab623</citedby><cites>FETCH-LOGICAL-c291t-58ffcde58c0c4cc70facffbdc0aca7669cebc4fc0fc4700be2fd39054b82ab623</cites></display><links><openurl>$$Topenurl_article</openurl><openurlfulltext>$$Topenurlfull_article</openurlfulltext><thumbnail>$$Tsyndetics_thumb_exl</thumbnail><linktopdf>$$Uhttps://www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/2639277$$EPDF$$P50$$Gjstor$$H</linktopdf><linktohtml>$$Uhttps://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S0018246X00018057/type/journal_article$$EHTML$$P50$$Gcambridge$$H</linktohtml><link.rule.ids>314,780,784,27924,27925,55689,58238,58471</link.rule.ids></links><search><creatorcontrib>Elton, G. R.</creatorcontrib><title>Herbert Butterfield and the Study of History</title><title>The Historical journal</title><addtitle>Hist. J</addtitle><description>In 1931 Herbert Butterfield, precisely as old as the century, published a short book entitled The whig interpretation of history. It made him famous, and for the next forty years or so he stood forth as one of the leading voices in the profession. His voluminous writings in books and essays were read avidly by schoolmasters and their pupils, by students and – less regularly – by dons; to a wide range of educated and reflective people not themselves historians he represented the voice of history in England. He added a further dimension to his image when singlehandedly and with considerable courage he engaged the then dominant Namierite school of eighteenth-century studies; though he cannot be said to have triumphed in that battle, he emerged from it with honour and with the satisfaction of having been able to crack the crystalline selfregard of the opposing party in several places. Those who knew only the voice, on paper at that, were liable to be profoundly disconcerted when they encountered him: no whitebearded old testament prophet after all, preaching stern simplicities, but a clean-shaven (often somewhatrazored) man permanently about thirty-five years old, brisk, cheerful, responsive, entertaining, variously chain-smoking or sworn off cigarettes altogether, always courteous, never pompous. It might be thought that today, less than four years after his death, it is yet too early to venture upon an assessment of his achievement, but it seems to me desirable that the task should be attempted by one who still remembers the famous Butterfield giggle while reading the Butterfield writings. My own special qualification, I would claim, lies in the fact that I knew him but not all that closely and did not belong to his circle (which tended to be based on Peterhouse); in thirty years of sharing the same history faculty with him I do not remember ever once seriously talking history with him.</description><subject>Christian history</subject><subject>Diplomatic history</subject><subject>Faith</subject><subject>Historians</subject><subject>History instruction</subject><subject>History of science</subject><subject>Lectures</subject><subject>Literary criticism</subject><subject>Marxist history</subject><subject>Military history</subject><issn>0018-246X</issn><issn>1469-5103</issn><fulltext>true</fulltext><rsrctype>article</rsrctype><creationdate>1984</creationdate><recordtype>article</recordtype><recordid>eNp1UE1Lw0AQXUTBWv0BgoeAV6Ozu8lu9qiirVAQW4Xelv3U1Lapmw3Yf29CShHE0wzz3pt5bxA6x3CNAfObGQAuSMbm0DWQ8wM0wBkTaY6BHqJBN007_Bid1PWiZbEM8ABdjV3QLsTkronRBV-6pU3U2ibxwyWz2NhtUvlkXNaxCttTdOTVsnZnuzpEb48Pr_fjdPI8erq_naSGCBzTvPDeWJcXBkxmDAevjPfaGlBGccaEcdpk3oA3GQfQjnhLBeSZLojSjNAhuuz3bkL11bg6ykXVhHV7UmIiBFAoOG1ZuGeZUNV1cF5uQrlSYSsxyO4p8s9TWs1Fr1l0gfYCwqggvIPTHm7zuu89rMKnZJzyXLLRixR4OhLT-VTilk93FtRKh9K-u19O_zXxA2m-fCI</recordid><startdate>19840901</startdate><enddate>19840901</enddate><creator>Elton, G. R.</creator><general>Cambridge University Press</general><scope>BSCLL</scope><scope>AAYXX</scope><scope>CITATION</scope><scope>FMSEA</scope><scope>GHEHK</scope><scope>IZSXY</scope><scope>K30</scope><scope>PAAUG</scope><scope>PAWHS</scope><scope>PAWZZ</scope><scope>PAXOH</scope><scope>PBHAV</scope><scope>PBQSW</scope><scope>PBYQZ</scope><scope>PCIWU</scope><scope>PCMID</scope><scope>PCZJX</scope><scope>PDGRG</scope><scope>PDWWI</scope><scope>PETMR</scope><scope>PFVGT</scope><scope>PGXDX</scope><scope>PIHIL</scope><scope>PISVA</scope><scope>PJCTQ</scope><scope>PJTMS</scope><scope>PLCHJ</scope><scope>PMHAD</scope><scope>PNQDJ</scope><scope>POUND</scope><scope>PPLAD</scope><scope>PQAPC</scope><scope>PQCAN</scope><scope>PQCMW</scope><scope>PQEME</scope><scope>PQHKH</scope><scope>PQMID</scope><scope>PQNCT</scope><scope>PQNET</scope><scope>PQSCT</scope><scope>PQSET</scope><scope>PSVJG</scope><scope>PVMQY</scope><scope>PZGFC</scope></search><sort><creationdate>19840901</creationdate><title>Herbert Butterfield and the Study of History</title><author>Elton, G. R.</author></sort><facets><frbrtype>5</frbrtype><frbrgroupid>cdi_FETCH-LOGICAL-c291t-58ffcde58c0c4cc70facffbdc0aca7669cebc4fc0fc4700be2fd39054b82ab623</frbrgroupid><rsrctype>articles</rsrctype><prefilter>articles</prefilter><language>eng</language><creationdate>1984</creationdate><topic>Christian history</topic><topic>Diplomatic history</topic><topic>Faith</topic><topic>Historians</topic><topic>History instruction</topic><topic>History of science</topic><topic>Lectures</topic><topic>Literary criticism</topic><topic>Marxist history</topic><topic>Military history</topic><toplevel>peer_reviewed</toplevel><toplevel>online_resources</toplevel><creatorcontrib>Elton, G. R.</creatorcontrib><collection>Istex</collection><collection>CrossRef</collection><collection>Periodicals Index Online Segment 05</collection><collection>Periodicals Index Online Segment 08</collection><collection>Periodicals Index Online Segment 30</collection><collection>Periodicals Index Online</collection><collection>Primary Sources Access—Foundation Edition (Plan E) - West</collection><collection>Primary Sources Access (Plan D) - International</collection><collection>Primary Sources Access & Build (Plan A) - MEA</collection><collection>Primary Sources Access—Foundation Edition (Plan E) - Midwest</collection><collection>Primary Sources Access—Foundation Edition (Plan E) - Northeast</collection><collection>Primary Sources Access (Plan D) - Southeast</collection><collection>Primary Sources Access (Plan D) - North Central</collection><collection>Primary Sources Access—Foundation Edition (Plan E) - Southeast</collection><collection>Primary Sources Access (Plan D) - South Central</collection><collection>Primary Sources Access & Build (Plan A) - UK / I</collection><collection>Primary Sources Access (Plan D) - Canada</collection><collection>Primary Sources Access (Plan D) - EMEALA</collection><collection>Primary Sources Access—Foundation Edition (Plan E) - North Central</collection><collection>Primary Sources Access—Foundation Edition (Plan E) - South Central</collection><collection>Primary Sources Access & Build (Plan A) - International</collection><collection>Primary Sources Access—Foundation Edition (Plan E) - International</collection><collection>Primary Sources Access (Plan D) - West</collection><collection>Periodicals Index Online Segments 1-50</collection><collection>Primary Sources Access (Plan D) - APAC</collection><collection>Primary Sources Access (Plan D) - Midwest</collection><collection>Primary Sources Access (Plan D) - MEA</collection><collection>Primary Sources Access—Foundation Edition (Plan E) - Canada</collection><collection>Primary Sources Access—Foundation Edition (Plan E) - UK / I</collection><collection>Primary Sources Access—Foundation Edition (Plan E) - EMEALA</collection><collection>Primary Sources Access & Build (Plan A) - APAC</collection><collection>Primary Sources Access & Build (Plan A) - Canada</collection><collection>Primary Sources Access & Build (Plan A) - West</collection><collection>Primary Sources Access & Build (Plan A) - EMEALA</collection><collection>Primary Sources Access (Plan D) - Northeast</collection><collection>Primary Sources Access & Build (Plan A) - Midwest</collection><collection>Primary Sources Access & Build (Plan A) - North Central</collection><collection>Primary Sources Access & Build (Plan A) - Northeast</collection><collection>Primary Sources Access & Build (Plan A) - South Central</collection><collection>Primary Sources Access & Build (Plan A) - Southeast</collection><collection>Primary Sources Access (Plan D) - UK / I</collection><collection>Primary Sources Access—Foundation Edition (Plan E) - APAC</collection><collection>Primary Sources Access—Foundation Edition (Plan E) - MEA</collection><jtitle>The Historical journal</jtitle></facets><delivery><delcategory>Remote Search Resource</delcategory><fulltext>fulltext</fulltext></delivery><addata><au>Elton, G. R.</au><format>journal</format><genre>article</genre><ristype>JOUR</ristype><atitle>Herbert Butterfield and the Study of History</atitle><jtitle>The Historical journal</jtitle><addtitle>Hist. J</addtitle><date>1984-09-01</date><risdate>1984</risdate><volume>27</volume><issue>3</issue><spage>729</spage><epage>743</epage><pages>729-743</pages><issn>0018-246X</issn><eissn>1469-5103</eissn><abstract>In 1931 Herbert Butterfield, precisely as old as the century, published a short book entitled The whig interpretation of history. It made him famous, and for the next forty years or so he stood forth as one of the leading voices in the profession. His voluminous writings in books and essays were read avidly by schoolmasters and their pupils, by students and – less regularly – by dons; to a wide range of educated and reflective people not themselves historians he represented the voice of history in England. He added a further dimension to his image when singlehandedly and with considerable courage he engaged the then dominant Namierite school of eighteenth-century studies; though he cannot be said to have triumphed in that battle, he emerged from it with honour and with the satisfaction of having been able to crack the crystalline selfregard of the opposing party in several places. Those who knew only the voice, on paper at that, were liable to be profoundly disconcerted when they encountered him: no whitebearded old testament prophet after all, preaching stern simplicities, but a clean-shaven (often somewhatrazored) man permanently about thirty-five years old, brisk, cheerful, responsive, entertaining, variously chain-smoking or sworn off cigarettes altogether, always courteous, never pompous. It might be thought that today, less than four years after his death, it is yet too early to venture upon an assessment of his achievement, but it seems to me desirable that the task should be attempted by one who still remembers the famous Butterfield giggle while reading the Butterfield writings. My own special qualification, I would claim, lies in the fact that I knew him but not all that closely and did not belong to his circle (which tended to be based on Peterhouse); in thirty years of sharing the same history faculty with him I do not remember ever once seriously talking history with him.</abstract><cop>Cambridge, UK</cop><pub>Cambridge University Press</pub><doi>10.1017/S0018246X00018057</doi><tpages>15</tpages></addata></record> |
fulltext | fulltext |
identifier | ISSN: 0018-246X |
ispartof | The Historical journal, 1984-09, Vol.27 (3), p.729-743 |
issn | 0018-246X 1469-5103 |
language | eng |
recordid | cdi_proquest_journals_1299030873 |
source | JSTOR Archival Journals and Primary Sources Collection; Cambridge University Press:JISC Collections:Full Collection Digital Archives (STM and HSS) (218 titles) |
subjects | Christian history Diplomatic history Faith Historians History instruction History of science Lectures Literary criticism Marxist history Military history |
title | Herbert Butterfield and the Study of History |
url | http://sfxeu10.hosted.exlibrisgroup.com/loughborough?ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&ctx_enc=info:ofi/enc:UTF-8&ctx_tim=2024-12-24T15%3A43%3A15IST&url_ver=Z39.88-2004&url_ctx_fmt=infofi/fmt:kev:mtx:ctx&rfr_id=info:sid/primo.exlibrisgroup.com:primo3-Article-jstor_proqu&rft_val_fmt=info:ofi/fmt:kev:mtx:journal&rft.genre=article&rft.atitle=Herbert%20Butterfield%20and%20the%20Study%20of%20History&rft.jtitle=The%20Historical%20journal&rft.au=Elton,%20G.%20R.&rft.date=1984-09-01&rft.volume=27&rft.issue=3&rft.spage=729&rft.epage=743&rft.pages=729-743&rft.issn=0018-246X&rft.eissn=1469-5103&rft_id=info:doi/10.1017/S0018246X00018057&rft_dat=%3Cjstor_proqu%3E2639277%3C/jstor_proqu%3E%3Cgrp_id%3Ecdi_FETCH-LOGICAL-c291t-58ffcde58c0c4cc70facffbdc0aca7669cebc4fc0fc4700be2fd39054b82ab623%3C/grp_id%3E%3Coa%3E%3C/oa%3E%3Curl%3E%3C/url%3E&rft_id=info:oai/&rft_pqid=1299030873&rft_id=info:pmid/&rft_cupid=10_1017_S0018246X00018057&rft_jstor_id=2639277&rfr_iscdi=true |