Froude
2 of the 6 encyclopedias on this shelf carry an entry for Froude. Both are reproduced below, so you can see where they agree and where they differ.
Aiton's Encyclopedia (1910)
frood, James Anthony (1818-1894), an eminent English writer. The Froude family has been connected with the Church of England for generations. James Anthony was educated at the University of Oxford. In 1892 he succeeded the historian Freeman as regius professor of modern history in that institution. During a long and busy life he wrote many books, including a score or two that find place in public libraries. His most noted work is the History of England from the Fall of Wolsey to the Death of Elizabeth. It is popularly known as Froude's History of England. Its appearance created a sensation. The writer appeared to take a delight in shocking the prejudices of his readers. His style is brilliant, but he writes with a degree of prejudice unbecoming a historian. The principal characters in the period which he covers are Henry VIII, Elizabeth, and Queen Mary. His attitude toward Queen Mary is exceedingly hostile. Even those who do not approve her methods feel that he has not done her justice. He aims to vindicate the much married Henry VIII, but the popular verdict is that he has placed Henry in too favorable a light. His estimate of Elizabeth is accepted as his best work. It is pretty well agreed that in her case he has been fair. Froude was an intimate friend of the Carlyles. Manuscripts and letters were turned over to him for such use as he might deem proper. His Reminiscences of Thomas Carlyle and Memorials of Jane Carlyle have given rise to a great deal of controversy. They give an inside view of the Carlyle family, and are read with the deepest interest. Some readers take the view that the private life of eminent people, like the Carlyles, should not be made public. Others sustain Froude in his position that the public is entitled to have all that is known of the lives of celebrated people. See Freeman ; Macaulay ; Lingard ; Green ; Hallam ; Hume ; Clarendon
Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)
JAMES ANTHONY (fröd), an English historian; born in Dartington, Devonshire, England, April 23, 1818. In the beginning of the Tractarian controversy he was a close friend of Newman, and was a contributor to the "Lives of the English Saints." He took orders in the Anglican Church (1844). Among his works may be mentioned: "Luther: A Short Biography" (1833); "Shadows of a Cloud" (1847); "Nemesis of Faith" (1848); "History of "Nemesis England from the Fall of Wolsey to the Death of Elizabeth" (12 vols. 1850- 1870); "Influence of the Reformation on the Scottish Character" (1867); "The English in Ireland in the Eighteenth Century" (3 vols. 1872); "Cæsar: A Sketch" (1879); "Thomas Carlyle" (1882); "Spanish Story of the Armada" (1892). He was the successor of Edward A. Freeman in the Professorship of Modern History at Oxford. He died in London, Oct. 20, 1894.
What Has Changed in the Last Century
Aiton's 1910 verdict — that Froude wrote "with a degree of prejudice unbecoming a historian" and had not done Mary Queen of Scots justice — was the standard judgement of his own generation, and it stuck for decades; his rival E. A. Freeman's charge of chronic inaccuracy hardened into the mocking label "Froude's disease." That estimate has since softened considerably: historians now credit him as one of the first English writers to work seriously in the Spanish state papers at Simancas, and Waldo Hilary Dunn's two-volume life (1961-63) began a broader rehabilitation, with the twelve-volume History still read for its narrative power if not always trusted on detail. The Carlyle quarrel Aiton describes as live in 1910 went on after both men were dead: Froude's defence of himself, "My Relations with Carlyle," was published by his children in 1903, and modern opinion largely sides with his insistence on telling the whole truth about a great man. Note that Collier's 1921 list garbles two dates — the Luther biography is 1883, not 1833.
Written for this edition, 2026.