J. H. Hexter

Jack H. Hexter (May 25, 1910 – December 8, 1996) was an American historian, a specialist in Tudor and seventeenth century British history, and well known for his comments on historiography. Hexter was born in Memphis, Tennessee and was awarded an BA by the University of Cincinnati in 1931.

He is noted for his distinction between 'splitters' and 'lumpers' of historical material, and his 1975 attack on Christopher Hill (as a 'lumper' of selectively-read sources). This was a part of a larger attack on the Marxist reading of Stuart history from the 1970s in which he was prominent, alongside Derek Hirst . This continued from a position he had earlier assumed, in some articles from the 1950s and with Hugh Trevor-Roper. His ultimate self-definition was seen as whiggish. He specialized in grand narratives focusing on political events. For Hexter, the English Civil War was no accident, but was rather the the defence of traditional English liberties against an aggressive Crown.

He had a position at Washington University in St. Louis from 1957 until 1964, and at Yale University from 1964 to 1978, becoming Charles Stillé Professor. He was John M. Olin Professor Emeritus of the History of Freedom at Washington University, retiring in 1990. The Yale Center for Parliamentary History was founded in 1966 under his directorship. He was the founder editor of the Stanford University Making of Modern Freedom series of books. Hexter married Ruth Mullin in 1942; they had three children. He died in St. Louis.

Works

• The Reign of King Pym (1941)
• Reappraisals in History: New Views on History and Society in Early Modern Europe (1961)
• Utopia, Thomas More (1985) edited with Edward Surtz , vol. 4 of the Yale Complete Edition of Thomas More
• The Judaeo-Christian Tradition (1966)
• Europe Since 1500 (1971) with R. Pipes and A. Molko
• The History Primer (1971)
• Doing History (1971)
• The vision of politics on the eve of the Reformation: More, Machiavelli, and Seyssel (1973)
• On Historians: Reappraisals of the Masters of Modern History (1979)
• The Monarchy of France, Claude De Seyssel (1981) translator with Michael Sherman, editor Donald R. Kelley
• The Traditions of the Western World: Antiquity Through the Early Modern period (vol. 1) (1982)
• Parliament and liberty from the reign of Elizabeth to the English Civil War (1992) editor

Reference

• Dray, W.H "J.H Hexter, Neo-Whiggism and Early Stuart Historiography" pages 133-149 from History and Theory, Volume 26, 1987.
• Malamount, Barbara (editor) After the Reformation: Essays in Honour of J.H. Hexter, Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1980.