Prescott, William Hickling

Family

Born in Salem, Massachusetts , the first-born of his parents: lawyer William Prescott Jr. (later Senator) and Catherine Green Hickling. In addition to William, the family had six more children, four of whom died in infancy. William's grandfather - William Prescott ( 1726 - 1795 ) - a hero of the US War of Independence , commanded rebel forces at the battle of Bunker Hill . In 1808, the family moved to Boston , where Prescott studied under Dr. John Gardner, rector of the Trinity Episcopal Church.

Training

In August 1811, William entered the second year of law at Harvard College . As a result of the accident, he was blind in one eye. This problem will haunt the scientist all his life, since intense studies will lead to complete loss of vision. (Prescott had to use the services of readers, and he wrote his books on a special transparency frame; he also developed phenomenal memorization abilities and could reproduce from memory up to 60 pages of text.) He graduated from university in 1814 , after which he traveled to Europe with 1816 to 1817 , visiting England , France , Italy . On May 4, 1820, he married Susan Amory, they had four children. After marriage, he decided to devote himself to literature.

First Articles

In 1821, Prescott in the North American Review gave a brief overview of Lord Byron's letters addressed to the Pope. At first, William wanted to devote himself to Italian literature, but thanks to his friendship with George Ticknor, he took up the history of Spain and Latin America. Ticknor later became his biographer, writing the book The life of William Hikcling Prescott ( Boston , 1864 , reprinted in 1875 ).

The main historical works. Demise

In 1837 , the History of Ferdinand and Isabella was published - the result of a decade of work, after which Prescott immediately became a recognized historian, and his work enjoyed great success with the general reader. In 1843 , the History of the Conquest of Mexico was published (written with the support of the Spanish historian Pascual de Gayangos y Arce ), and in 1847 , The History of the Conquest of Peru. His last work, The History of Philip II , remained unfinished (Volume I and II, 1855 ; Volume III, 1858 ): in 1858 , Prescott was struck by a stroke , and a second stroke a year later caused his death.

In 1859, his biographical materials and correspondence were published, which were not previously published.

A complete collection of his works was published in 16 volumes edited by J.F. Kirk (JF Kirk) in the period from 1870 to 1874 . Then the collection was expanded by W. Munro (WH Munro) - 22 volumes appeared in 1904 , reprinted in 1968 ). His Letters are compiled by Roger Wolcott ( 1925 ), and his Literary Notes by C. Harvey Gardiner ( 1961 ).

His books have been translated into many languages ​​and enjoyed great success in the 19th century .

Prescott is a classic of 19th century positivist historiography . He sought to create epic historical works in which the impartiality of presentation was combined with enormous evidence and literary virtues. Prescott brought into scientific circulation a large number of unpublished documents from the Spanish archives at that time. A significant role in the popularity of his works was played by the fact that the author was blind.

Prescott's works inspired the American railroad tycoon Edward Ayer ( 1841 - 1927 ) to collect a huge collection of Native American art and a library containing rare colonial period manuscripts that became the basis of the collections of the Newberry Library in Chicago and the Chicago Museum of Natural History .

• The city of Prescott in Arizona (founded in 1864 ) is named after the historian.
• In Boston, there is Prescott House Museum (he lived in it from 1845 to 1859 ), included in the list of US national historical monuments . ^[one]
• In Arequipa ( Peru ), an English-Spanish college is named after Prescott. ^[2]

• Studying at Harvard University, Prescott occupied the same living room as his father, and then his own son. ^[3]

• Prescott WH History of the reign of Ferdinand and Isabella the Catholic, of Spain . - 3rd ed .. - London, 1841. - 580 p.
• Spain's Conquest of the Moors , 1840
• History of the Conquest of Mexico (1843).
• Biographical and Critical Miscellanies (1845).
• History of the Conquest of Peru (1847).
• History of the Reign of Philip II (1855-58) - not complete.
• The Correspondence of William Hickling Prescott (1833–1847) . Ed. by Roger Wolcott. Massachusetts Historical Society, 1925.
• The Literary Memoranda of William Hickling Prescott . 2 vols. Ed. by C. Harvey Gardiner. Oklahoma, 1961.
• The Papers of William Hickling Prescott . Ed. by C. Harvey Gardiner. Illinois, 1964.

There are Russian translations, but they have not yet been posted on the network.

• Gardiner, Clinton Harvey (1969), William Hickling Prescott, a Biography. Introd. por Allan Nevis, Austin: Texas University Press. ISBN 0-292-70005-9
• Lockwood, Frank C .. The life of Edward E. Ayer. - Chicago, IL: AC McClurg, 1929.
• Palmer, Joseph . Necrology of Alumni of Harvard College, 1851-52 to 1862-63. - Boston, MA: J. Wilson and Son, 1864.
• Ticknor, George . Papers discussing the comparative merits of Prescott's and Wilson's histories, pro. and con .: As laid before the Massachusetts Historical Society. - Boston: sn, 1861.
• Wilson, Robert Anderson . A New History of the Conquest of Mexico: In which Las Casas' denunciations of the popular historians of that war are fully vindicated. - Philadelphia, PA: James Challen & Son, 1859.
• Winsor, Justin . Cortés and his Companions: Critical essay on the documentary sources of Mexican history // Narrative and Critical History of America, Vol. 2 / Justin Winsor, (ed.). - unabridged facsimile of edn. published 1866 [Boston: Houghton, Mifflin & Co.] - Boston, MA: Adamant Media Corporation, 2006. - P. 397-430. - ISBN 0-543-98914-3 .

• Prescott House Museum
• Review of 1844 on the History of the Conquest of Mexico on Wikisource.
• William H. Prescott at the Internet Accuracy Project Accessed December 20, 2008
• familysearch.org Accessed December 20, 2008
• Johnson, Rossiter, and John Howard Brown. The Twentieth Century Biographical Dictionary of Notable Americans. Boston: Biographical Society, 1904. googlebooks Retrieved August 26, 2009
• David Levin, History as Romantic Art: Bancroft, Prescott, Motley, and Parkman
• Biography in 1911 Encyclopedia
• Columbia Encyclopedia article
• Works of William H. Prescott in the Gutenberg Project
  • Biography in A Short Biographical Dictionary of English Literature by John W. Cousin
• History of the Conquest of Mexico, with a Preliminary View of Ancient Mexican Civilization, and the Life of the Conqueror, Hernando Cortes , by William H. Prescott, full-text online reproduction by Electronic Text Center, University of Virginia Library