Essay in economic history vol.1

The growing interest in economic history early in the present. T century, among both historians and economists, was marked by the appearance in England of two new periodicals wholly devoted to the subject-Economic History, launched in 1926 by the Royal Economic Society as a supplement to the Economic Journal, and the Economic History Review, launched in 1927 by the newly founded Economic History Society. In 1941 Economic History was discontinued, but after the war, in 1948, the Royal Economic Society gave financial support to the Economic History Society and was accorded representa tion on the editorial board of the Economic History Review.

It is to the files of these two journals that the student must turn for the results of much of the research that has been done in the field of economic history since 1926. Complete sets of them are not, however, always available in libraries, nor can they now be made up, since many back numbers are today out of print. The aim of the present collection is therefore to make readily accessible in one volume a selection of those articles which have proved most in demand among students. The selection has been made by a sub-committee appointed for this purpose by the Council of the Economic History Society. In making its choice the sub-committee has restricted itself to the files of the first twenty years, and account has been taken only of articles which have not been substantially incorporated in later published work. For these reasons alone, and because of the many new contributions to the subject which have been published elsewhere, the volume should not be regarded as offering a representative view of recent work in economic history.

The essays here reprinted have been reproduced unaltered, save for a few minor amendments and the correction of occasional misprints. They therefore reflect the views of their authors at the time that they were written. Each author has, however, been invited to add a brief note, should he so wish, about any points to which he would like to call attention in the light of later research; such notes appear as postscripts to the articles in question.