THE ORIGIN OF PROPERTY
IN LAND
BY
FUSTEL DE COULANGES
TRANSLATED BY MARGARET ASHLEY
WITH AN INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER ON
THE ENGLISH MANOR
BY
W. J. ASHLEY, M.A.
PROFESSOR OF POLITICAL ECONOMY IN THE UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO,
LATE FELLOW OF LINCOLN COLLEGE, OXFORD
LONDON
SWAN SONNENSCHEIN & CO.
PATERNOSTER SQUARE
1891
PREFACE.
The Essay by the late M. Fustel de Coulanges, here translated, appearedin the Revue des Questions Historiques for April, 1889. Itseemed especially suitable for translation; since it presented ina comparatively brief compass all the main arguments of that greathistorian against the various attempts which have been made to supportthe theory of primitive agrarian communism by an appeal to historicalrecords. The translation has been made with the consent of MadameFustel de Coulanges; and it has benefited by the suggestions of M.Guiraud, an old pupil of the author, and now “Chargé de Cours” at theSorbonne. The presentation of the Essay in an English dress has beendeemed a suitable occasion to estimate the bearing of its argumentson early English social history, and to review in the light of it theevidence now accessible as to the origin of the English manor.
W. J. A.
M. A.
Toronto,
January 21, 1891.