Description

Fiske (1842-1901) was an American philosopher and historian born in Hartford, Connecticut. As a child he exhibited remarkable precocity, and graduated from Harvard College in 1863 and from Harvard Law School in 1865. Although admitted to the Suffolk bar in 1864 he never practised. His writing career began in 1861 with an article published in the National Quarterly Review and from that time on he was a frequent contributor to American and British periodicals. From 1869-71 he was lecturer on philosophy at Harvard, in 1870 instructor in history there, and assistant librarian from 1872-79. On resigning the latter position he was elected a member of the board of overseers and was re-elected in 1885. From 1881 he lectured annually on American history at Washington University, St Louis and in 1884 held a professorship in the subject at that institution whilst still making his home in Cambridge, Mass. He went on to give many hundreds of lectures chiefly upon American history in the principal cities of the USA and Britain. Whilst his major area of study was history, he had from an early age taken a keen interest in evolution, applying himself to the philosophical interpretation of Darwin's work and producing many books and essays on the subject. This work, subtitled The Puritan Theocracy in its Relations to Civil and Religious Liberty, was first published in 1889 and is reprinted from an edition of 1892.