The Dutch Archives and American Historical Research

The fame which John Lothrop Motley won as a writer of Dutch history has not yet been forgotten on either side of the Atlantic. In the Netherlands he is gratefully remembered for the unique service which he rendered to Dutch historiography, that of writing brilliantly and dramatically in a world language the history of the rise of the Dutch state. 1 In the United States, on the other hand, we are proud to count him, with Prescott and Parkman, as one of the three most gifted historians of the "literary age" in American historiography. More than half a century has passed since Motley wrote, but today he is still the only American who has really distinguished himself in the field of Dutch history.2 This fact seems no less than \*This paper was read at the annual meeting of the Pacific Coast Branch of the American Historical Association at Mills Front Matter....Pages ii-iv The Dutch Archives and American Historical Research....Pages 1-16 Back Matter....Pages 17-17