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A NOTE ON THE TEXT

Given its length and its subject matter, An Historical View might seem a difficult work to introduce to a wider modern readership, but John Millar’s strengths as a historian reside less in the detail of his researches than in the clarity, scope, and intelligence of his ideas. For the student who is relatively unfamiliar with the details of British history, we have identified names, places, and events that might otherwise be obscure, thereby making it easier to compare Millar’s account with modern ones, wherever such comparisons might be helpful. Like most of his contemporaries, Millar is vague in his citations—so much so that John Craig, his nephew and first editor, found it necessary to apologize for his scholarly minimalism. We have attempted to remedy some of these deficiencies by identifying the more important and specific references. Our own additions to Millar’s notes are enclosed in double square brackets, since Millar has used single square brackets for his own insertions. Further, we have provided a list of works mentioned by Millar (appendix 1) as well as a brief description of his principal sources (appendix 2). Note, however, that Millar’s citations often do not indicate the edition used. From time to time, the notes refer readers to similar issues or ideas in Millar’s earlier work, The Origin of the Distinction of Ranks, or in the works of Lord Kames, Adam Smith, David Hume, and Adam Ferguson, his chief mentors and peers in historical study. But in keeping with the general editorial policy of this series, we have avoided the temptation of didactic footnotes, leaving it to the introduction to provide a brief general background to Millar’s work and intellectual career. In the new introduction, references to An Historical View are given using Liberty Fund page numbers. Typographical errors in the text have been silently corrected.