Leopold von Ranke - The Theory and Practice of History

Leopold von Ranke, who was born in 1795, is considered to be one of the founders of the modern practice of writing history. This collection of his writings, edited and introduced by Georg G. Iggers, was first published in 1973 and remains the leading collection of Rankes writings in the English language.

Now updated with the needs of current students in mind, this edition includes previously untranslated materials by the young Ranke, focusing particularly on the relationship between history and religion together with his inaugural lecture of 1836, On the Relation and Difference between History and Politics. Including pieces on historical science, and on the relationship between history and philosophy, as well as country-specific histories, this book is essential reading for all students of historiography.

Georg G. Iggers is Distinguished Professor of History Emeritus at the State University of New York at Buffalo. He has published numerous influential works on historiography including his co-authored Global History of Historiography (2008) and Twentieth Century Historiography (2005). He has received many fellowships including the Guggenheim, the Rockefeller, the Newberry Library and the National Endowment for the Humanities. He was also formerly a Fulbright fellow and a Woodrow Wilson Center fellow and recipient of Alexander von Humboldt Research Prize. From 1995 to 2000 he was president of the International Commission for the History and Theory of Historiography.

Edited with an introduction by Georg G. Iggers

New translations by Wilma A. Iggers

First published 2011
by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN

Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada
by Routledge
270 Madison Ave., New York, NY 100016

This edition published in the Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2011.

To purchase your own copy of this or any of Taylor & Francis or Routledges collection of thousands of eBooks please go to www.eBookstore.tandf.co.uk.

2011 Georg G. Iggers

The right of Georg G. Iggers to be identified as author of this work has been asserted by him/her in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data A catalog record for this book has been requested

ISBN 0-203-83919-6 Master e-book ISBN

ISBN13: 978-0-415-78032-2 (hbk)

ISBN13: 978-0-415-78033-9 (pbk)

ISBN13: 978-0-203-83919-5 (ebk)

An earlier version of this volume was first published in 1973 as part of a projected European Historiography Series initiated by Prof. F. J. Levy. The series unfortunately was not continued past this volume when Bobbs-Merrill soon afterwards went out of business. The aim of the volume was to present a side of Ranke that had been largely neglected: the theoretical assumptions which underlay his great narrative histories. In fact Ranke reflected throughout his life on these assumptions, not in any works dedicated to theory, but in the prefaces to his histories, which were published, and in the introductions to his courses at the University of Berlin, which for the most part were not published. These theoretical formulations are important for understanding Rankes narratives, his selection of topics and of individuals, and his search for the tendencies he saw operating in history.

The 1973 version was co-edited by me and the late Konrad von Moltke. I took main responsibility for Rankes theoretical statements and wrote the Introduction; Von Moltke revised and abridged the 1901 translation by E. Fowler of the History of the Popes. He and I consulted each other regularly. My wife, Wilma A. Iggers, translated Rankes theoretical statements, which had not been translated previously. Because of limitations of space I chose only two chapters for this new edition from the Fowler translation which reflect particularly well Rankes approach to writing history. The complete Fowler translation reprinted in 1966 is readily available. I have kept all the selections from the 1973 edition that reflect Rankes theoretical views and added his inaugural address of 1836 on the relation of history and politics when he became a full professor at the University of Berlin. I also included an important early letter to his brother Heinrich from 1820 in which he describes the historical interests and the religious faith that define his scholarly work throughout his life.

I have thoroughly revised the introduction of 1973 taking into account the changing interpretations of Ranke in the past 40 years. The bibliographical essay has been brought up to the present.

In addition to the people to whom I expressed my thanks in the Preface of 1973, I would like to thank particularly Ernst Schulin and Stefan Jordan who carefully read the 1973 Introduction before I began to revise it and then read the updated present Introduction and made valuable comments. Jrn Rsen with whom I discussed this project offered useful suggestions. Daniel Plassche, a graduate student in history with a degree in library science, offered valuable assistance with computer and bibliographical problems and also read the text and made important suggestions for corrections. I wish to thank Adam Budd who recommended the reader to Routledge. I also want to express my gratitude to Konrad von Moltkes heirs who permitted me to publish this edition without asking for any financial compensation. I also want to thank Lothar Gall, the editor of the Historische Zeitschrift, for allowing us to use selections freely from the journal. And finally I want to thank Wilma who carefully followed my work and also translated Rankes letter of 1820 for this edition.

Georg G. Iggers
Buffalo, NY

Probably no historian in the nineteenth century has had an influence on the development of historical scholarship equal to that of Leopold von Ranke. He has been called the father of historical science. And indeed Rankes critical use of documents became the model for historical research and writing in the nineteenth century, first in Germany and then generally throughout the world, as history increasingly became a professional, university-centered discipline. Ranke was extensively and repeatedly translated into English. Five separate translations of the History of the Popes appeared before 1900. The newly formed American Historical Association in 1885 elected Ranke, whom George Bancroft at this occasion called the greatest living historian, as its first honorary member. Nevertheless since the First World War, Ranke has been largely ignored outside of Germany. This lack of interest is related to the identification of Ranke with modes of historical writing that appeared outdated by then.