Page:American Historical Review, Volume 12.djvu/713

 NOTES AND NEWS GENERAL Frederick William Maitland, Downing Professor of the Laws of England at Cambridge University, died at the Grand Canary on De- cember 21, aged fifty-six. The impetus that he gave to the studies of institutional and legal history in England is incalculably great, as is the loss that historical studies have suffered through his death. He was educated at Eton and Trinity, and practised as a barrister for several years, returning to Cambridge only in 1884 as Reader in English law. In this same year he published his book Gloucester Pleas, and in 1887 his celebrated edition of Bract on' s Note Book. His productiv- ity during the following years was remarkable ; of most importance were the numerous volumes of texts, furnished with long and illuminating introductions, that he edited for the Selden Society ; the History of English Law (1895), produced in co-operation with Sir Frederick Pol- lock, but in greater part his own ; and Domesday Book and Beyond (1897), in which his extraordinary insight enabled him to interpret a record hitherto obscure. He had a genius for investigation, for criticism, and for interpretation, and his vivacity and unfailing sense of humor produced a lightness of touch that makes his legal learning eminently readable. His last work, The Life and Letters of Leslie Stephen (1906), although outside the historical field, may be mentioned here as throw- ing light on the character of the biographer. Those American students who are fortunate enough to have known him will not soon forget his rare kindness and his power of enkindling other minds. Henry Francis Pelham, President of Trinity College, Oxford, Cam- den Professor of Ancient History in the University, and Fellow of the British Academy, died on February 12, aged sixty. His writings in- clude Outlines of Roman History (1890) and several articles in the Encyclopaedia Britannica, Smith's Dictionary of Antiquities, and else- where, which show his mastery of the results of research in the field of Roman History. An able administrator, he did much to organize the study of history and archaeology at Oxford, aided the Hellenic Society and the British School at Athens, and was the chief founder of the British School at Rome. Ernest Desire Glasson, one of the principal historians of French law, member of the Institute, and Professor in the Faculty of Law at Paris, died on January 6, at the age of sixty-seven. Of his numerous works on legal and institutional history, the most important are the Histoirc du Droit et dcs Institutions Politiqucs, Civiles et Judiciaircs (703)