History of British Civilization

…Born as the son of a wealthy London merchant, he never received a formal school education. After his father's death, he traveled the continent, acquiring a wide range of knowledge and language skills, and settled in London, where he read thousands of books before writing “A History of British Civilization” (1857-61). This work, which emphasizes natural conditions such as climate and advocates a progressive view of history, was translated and published several times in Japan in the early Meiji period, and, together with Guizot's “A History of European Civilization,” it sparked a “civilization history boom” and had a major influence on works such as Uokichi Taguchi's “A Brief History of the Modernization of Japan” and Yukichi Fukuzawa's “An Outline of a Theory of Civilization.” …

*Some of the terminology referenced in "The History of British Civilization" is listed below.

Source | Heibonsha World Encyclopedia 2nd Edition | Information

…ロンドンの富裕な商店主の子として生まれ，正規の学校教育はいっさい受けなかった。父の死後，大陸を旅行して広い知識と語学力を身につけ，ロンドンに居を構えて万巻の書を読み，《イギリス文明史》(1857‐61)を著した。風土などの自然条件を重視し進歩史観を唱えたこの著作は，明治初年の日本において数度にわたって翻訳･刊行され，ギゾーの《ヨーロッパ文明史》とならんで〈文明史ブーム〉を引き起こし，田口卯吉の《日本開化小史》や福沢諭吉の《文明論之概略》などに大きな影響を与えた。…

※「《イギリス文明史》」について言及している用語解説の一部を掲載しています。

出典｜株式会社平凡社世界大百科事典 第２版について | 情報