Categories
Courses Economic History Harvard Suggested Reading Syllabus

Harvard. Readings for Modern Economic History. Ashley, 1899-1900

 

The following course outline with reading assignments comes from one of the two year-long courses William J. Ashley taught at Harvard for nearly a decade around the turn of the 20th century. No copy of his reading list for Medieval Economic History of Europe is found in the Harvard Archive’s collections of course reading lists that include fewer and fewer courses as we move back to the earliest years of the 20th century and before. However there is the printed copy of the readings for the Economic History of Europe and the United States since 1500 that has been transcribed for this posting.

A biographical piece published in 1899 has already been posted in Economics in the Rear-view Mirror.

____________________________

From Taussig’s history of the department of economics:

“…The Department from the first gave attention to economic theory; and the slant which was thus given its work under Dunbar’s leadership persisted. It was always known in the country as giving much attention to the matters of principle which are indicated by the term ‘economic theory,’ and also to the history of the development of economic thought.

Another aspect, the historical, was emphasized by the appointment in 1892 of William J. Ashley* as Professor of Economic History. As in the case of Dunbar, this was an unprecedented move. Ashley’s appointment was evidence of a desire to promote the new current of thought for increased attention to history in its widest range: letters, law, morals, as well as economics. He remained in service for nearly 10 years, resigning to accept a chair in England. His place was soon taken by a scholar of no less distinction, Edwin F. Gay…”

________________

* Sir William Ashley, as he became in 1917, took a First in Modern History at Balliol in 1881, and in 1888 published his pioneer work, An Introduction to English Economic History and Theory.

 

Source: Chapter 9, “Economics” by Frank William Taussig in Samuel Eliot Morison (ed.), The Development of Harvard University since the Inauguration of President Eliot, 1869-1929. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1930.

___________________________

Course Announcement (from 1897-98)

[Economics] 11. The Modern Economic History of Europe and America (from 1500). Tu., Th., (and at the pleasure of the instructor) Sat., at 12. Professor Ashley.

This course, — which will usually alternate with Course 10 [The Mediaeval Economic History of Europe] in successive years, — while intended to form a sequel to Course 10, will nevertheless be independent, and may usefully be taken by those who have not followed the history of the earlier period. The main thread of connection will be found in the history of trade; but the outlines of the history of agriculture and industry will also be set forth, and the forms of social organization dependent upon them. England, as the first home of the “great industry,” will demand a large share of attention; but the parallel or divergent economic history of the United States, and of the great countries of western Europe, will be considered side by side with it.

Source: Harvard University, Faculty of Arts and Sciences. [Announcement of the] Division of History and Political Science Comprising the Departments of History and Government and Economics 1897-98, pp. 31-32.

___________________________

Course Enrollment

[Economics] 11. Professor ASHLEY.—The Modern Economic History of Europe. Lectures (2 or 3 hours).

Total 76: 15 Graduates, 21 Seniors, 26 Juniors, 6 Sophomores, 8 Others.

Source: Harvard University. Annual Report of the President of Harvard College 1899-1900, p. 69.

___________________________

ECONOMICS 11.
PRESCRIBED READING FOR THE FIRST HALF-YEAR

[Stamp: Harvard College Library, Cambridge, Mass. Jan 15, 1900]

(A supplement to, and not an alternative for, the lectures.)

* * * * *

  1. Warner, English Industrial History, to p. 208.
  2. Fiske, Discovery of America, I, pp. 256-334, 354-365,453-460; II, App. A and B.
  3. Hunter, History of British India, I, ch. 1-5.
  4. Marco Polo, Travels, ed. Yule; or pub. Cassell.
  5. Hakluyt, Discovery of Muscovy, pub. Cassell.
  6. Fox Bourne, English Merchants, 1886, pp. 13-149.
  7. Easterlings, Hanse of London, Hanse Towns, and Hanseatic League in Palgrave’s Dictionary of Political Economy; or Hanse in Say et Chailley, Nouveau Dictionnaire d’Économie Politique; or Hanse in Handwörterbuch der Staatswissenschaften; or Hanseatic League in Encyclopœdia Britannica.
  8. Pigeonneau, Histoire du Commerce de la France, I, pp. 211-218.
  9. Jacobs, Story of Geographical Discovery.

* * * *

  1. Seebohm, English Village Community, pp. 1-32; or Ashley, Economic History, I, §1; the former recommended.
  2. Jones, Peasant Rents, ch. 2, 3, §§4-6, App., pp. 172-190.
  3. Ashley, Economic History, II, ch. 4,5.
  4. Belfort Bax, German Society at the close of the Middle Ages, Intro., and ch. 1, 5-8.
  5. The Twelve Articles of the German Peasants in 1525; German text in Zimmermann, Geschichte des Bauernkrieges, Zweiter Theil, 1862, pp. 98 seq.; imperfect English translation in Belfort Bax, Peasants’ War, pp. 63 seq.
  6. More’s Utopia (Arber’s reprint recommended), bk. I; or Harrisons’s Description of England (in Elizabethan England, Camelot series), ch. 1, 2, 4, 7, 9, 10.
  7. Ashley, Economic History, II, ch. 1-3.
  8. Articles of the Spurriers and White-tawyers in Riley’s Memorials of London, pp. 226-228, 232-234, and of the Exeter Tailors in English Gilds, pp. 312-316; or all three in Penn. and Reprints, vol. II, no. I.
  9. Statute 5 Eliz. c. 4, in Statutes of the Realm, or in Prothero, Statutes and Constitutional Documents.
  10. Levasseur, Histoire des classes ouvrières, II, pp. 119-126; or Martin Saint-Léon, Histoire des corporations de métiers, pp. 247-253.
  11. Report of the Commission of the German Diet in 1522; text in Belfort Bax, German Society at the close of the Middle Ages, pp. 245-259; imperfect translation, ibid., pp. 231-245; together with the account of the Fuggers, , App. C.
  12. Defoe, Tour through the Eastern Counties, pub. Cassell.
  13. Defoe, From London to Land’s End, pub. Cassell.
  14. Schmoller, Mercantile System.

* * * * *

ADDITIONAL READING RECOMMENDED.

  1. Cunningham, Growth of English Industry and Commerce. I. Early and Middle Ages, Bk. III, ch. 4; Bk. IV, ch. 2-5; Bk. V, ch. 5. II. Modern Times, Bk. VI, ch. 4.
  2. Cunningham, Alien Immigrants to England, ch. 3 & 4.
  3. Pigeonneau, Histoire du Commerce de la France, Tome II, livre 1.
  4. Lindner, Die deutsche Hanse.
  5. Dixon, The Florentine Wool Trades, in R. Hist. Soc., 1898.
  6. Ruskin, The Stones of Venice, ch. 1, §§1-16.
  7. Hallam, Account of the Government of Florence, in Middle Ages, I, ch. 3, pt. 2.
  8. The Common Weal of this Realm of England, ed. Lamond.
  9. Cheyney, Social Changes in England in the 16th Century.
  10. Leadam, The Domesday of Inclosures, R. Hist. Soc.

 

 

ECONOMICS 11.
PRESCRIBED READING FOR THE SECOND HALF-YEAR

[Handwritten pencil note: “1899-1900”]

(A supplement to, and not an alternative for, the lectures.)

* * * * *

  1. Warner, English Industrial History, p. 209 to end.

* * *

  1. Text of the Navigation Acts, Amer. History Leaflets, No. 19.
  2. Text of the Poor Law of Elizabeth, 43-44 Eliz., cap. 2, in Statutes of the Realm, or Prothero Constitutional Documents.

* * *

  1. Hunter, History of British India, ch. 6-10.
  2. Noel, Histoire du Commerce du Monde, II, pp. 150-164, 270-274.
  3. Macaulay, Lord Clive, in Critical and Historical Essay.
  4. Adam Smith, Wealth of Nations, Bk. V, ch. 1, pt. 3, art. 1.
  5. Day, The Culture System, Yale Review, Feb. 1900.
  6. Seeley, Expansion of England, Course I, Lectures 1, 2, 6; Course 2, Lecture 3.
  7. Mahan, Influence of Sea Power, 1660-1783, ch. 1.
  8. Ashley, The Commercial Legislation of England and the American Colonies, 1660-1760, Quarterly Journal of Economics, Nov. 1899.

* * *

  1. Prothero, Pioneers and Progress of English Farming, pp. 29-103.
  2. Seeley, The Emancipating Edict of Stein, in his Life of Stein, Pt. 3, ch. 4; reprinted in Rand, Economic History.

* * *

  1. Fox Bourne, English Merchants, p. 150 to end.
  2. Sargent, The Economic Policy of Colbert.
  3. Hewins, English Trade and Finance, pp. 74-164.
  4. Toynbee, The Industrial Revolution, pp. 27-136.
  5. Fowle, The Poor Law, ch. 3, 4.
  6. Defoe, Essay on Projects, pub. Cassell; especially pp. 1-42, 77-80.
  7. Macpherson, Annals of Commerce. Account of the South Sea Company and the Mississippi Scheme, s. aa. 1711, 1713-1715, 1717-1720.
  8. Macaulay, Account of the
    East India Company (ch. 18 and elsewhere),
    Bank of England (ch. 20),
    Recoinage (ch. 21),
    Darien Company (ch. 24),
    in History of England.

* * * * *

SUGGESTED ADDITIONAL READING.

  1. Ashley, Tory Origin of Free Trade Policy, Quarterly Journal of Economics, July 1897.
  2. Baines, History of the Cotton Manufacture, pp. 79-244.
  3. James Mill, History of British India, Bk. 1, ch. 1-4.
  4. Macpherson, Annals of Commerce, for reference throughout.

* * * * *

The attention of members of the course who received a mid-year mark of C or below is recalled to Warner, ch. 2-11, Ashley, Economic History, II, ch. 1-3, and Hunter, British India, ch. 4.

 

Source: Harvard University Archives. Syllabi, course outlines and reading lists in Economics, 1895-2003. (HUC 8522.2.1) Box 1, Folder “Economics 1899-1900”.

Image Source:University and their Sons. History, Influence and Characteristics of American Universities with Biographical Sketches and Portraits of Alumni and Recipients of Honorary Degrees. Editor-in-chief, General Joshua L. Chamberlain, LL.D. Vol II (1899) , p. 595.