Cheyney, E. P. _European Background of American History, 1300-1600_ (N. Y., 1904, Harper, $2.00). Creighton, Mandell. _The Age of Elizabeth_ (13th ed., N. Y., 1897, Scribner, $ 1.00). "Epochs of Modern History." Fiske, John. _The Discovery and Colonization of North America_ (Boston, 1905, Ginn, 90 cents). Gardiner, S. R. _The Thirty Years' War_ (N. Y., 1874, Scribner, $1.00). Goodyear, W. H. _Renaissance and Modern Art_ (N. Y., 1894, Macmillan, $1.00). Hudson, W. H. _The Story of the Renaissance_ (N. Y., 1912, Cassell, $1.50). A well-written volume. Hulme, E. M. _The Renaissance, the Protestant Revolution, and the Catholic Reformation in Continental Europe_ (rev. ed., N. Y., 1915, Century Co., $2.50). The best work on the subject by an American scholar. * Joyce, T. A. _Mexican Archaeology_ (N. Y., 1914, Putnam, $4.00). ------ _South American Archaeology_ (N. Y., 1912, Putnam, $3.50). Kerr, P. H., and Kerr, A. C. _The Growth of the British Empire_ (N. Y., 1911, Longmans, Green, and Co., 50 cents). Oldham, J. B. _The Renaissance_ (N. Y., 1912, Dutton, 35 cents). Seebohm, Frederic. _The Era of the Protestant Revolution_ (N. Y., 1875, Scribner, $1.00). "Epochs of Modern History." CHAPTER I THE AGES BEFORE HISTORY 1. THE STUDY OF HISTORY SUBJECT MATTER OF HISTORY History is the narrative of what civilized man has done. It deals with those social groups called states and nations. Just as biography describes the life of individuals, so history relates the rise, progress, and decline of human societies. MANUSCRIPTS AND BOOKS History cannot go back of written records. These alone will preserve a full and accurate account of man's achievements. Manuscripts and books form one class of written records. The old Babylonians used tablets of soft clay, on which signs were impressed with a metal instrument. The tablets were then baked hard in an oven. The Egyptians made a kind of paper out of the papyrus, a plant native to the Nile valley. The Greeks and Romans at first used papyrus, but later they employed the more lasting parchment prepared from sheepskin. Paper seems to have been a Chinese invention. It was introduced into Europe by the Arabs during the twelfth century of our era. [Illustration: THE DISK OF PHAESTUS Found in 1908 A.D. in the palace at Phaestus, Crete. The disk is of refined clay on which the figures were stamped in relief with punches. Both sides of the disk are covered with characters. The side seen in the illustration contains 31 sign groups (123 signs) separated from one another by incised lines. The other side contains 30 sign groups (118 signs). The inscription dates from about 1800 B.C.]