The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 22, July 1918 - April, 1919 Page: 337
521 p. : ill. (some col.), ports. ; 23 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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The Literature of Californial History 337
ing to the region they represent, and put together chronologically.
Thus, for a single important voyage from Panama to Alaska, one
would have t.o look successively through the volumes on Central
America, Mexico, the north Mexican states, California, the north-
west coast (or Oregon after 1834, Washington after 1845, and
British Columbia after 1792), and Alaska.. Furthermore, errors
in detail reach perhaps into the thousands, for it was impossible
for one man or group of men to digest the unlimited quantity of
facts which were assembled; it is a simple matter for the most
ordinary scholar to correct mistakes in Bancroft. For these rea-
sons many writers have shown a disposition to attack the value of
these volumes. Nevertheless, it is perhaps not too much to say
that Bancroft's works constitute the greatest single achievement
in the history of American historiography. Though Bancroft is
far from being the greatest historian this country has produced,
he has rendered a greater service than any of the men, who de-
servedly rank ahead of him a.s historical writers. His volumes have
proved to be an indispensable preliminary for scores of books pub-
lished since, within the field he covered, and all historians, even
those who criticize him most, have found that, wherever they go,
Bancroft has been there (though perhaps inadequately) before
them. On this account his works serve as an essential bibliogra-
phy, not so, much through the long and badly-constructed lists of
authorities, but rather through the frequent and ample footnotes,
into which every conceivable authority, good, bad, or, indifferent,
is crowded. As concerns California history there can be no doubt
that Bancroft has decided the form it has taken; nearly all of the
histories of later date have been little more than summaries and
selections from Bancroft, tinged and shaded by the writer's own
predisposition with regard to the. facts. The history of California
is represented directly by the volumes numbered XVIII-XXIV
and XXXIV-XXXVII in the above list, and figures prominently
in I-V, XXXVIII, and XXXIX. Furthermore, no well-rounded
out history of California can omit material contained in many
other volumes, notably XV-XVII and XXVII-XXVIII. Yet, as
will be pointed out in section If, Bancroft did not by any means
obtain all the desirable material for a history of California, nor
was that which he possessed "used . . well-nigh to exhaus-
tion," as a recent writer (who certainly did not test his assertion)
has maintained.
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Texas State Historical Association. The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 22, July 1918 - April, 1919, periodical, 1919; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth117156/m1/358/: accessed April 25, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.