Mont-Saint-Michel and Chartres

Mont-Saint-Michel and Chartres

By Henry Adams

With an introduction by Ralph Adams Cram

A meditative reflection on Medieval Culture

Mont Saint Michel and Chartres is a book written by the American historian and scholar Henry Adams (1838-1918). Adams wrote this book, a meditative reflection on medieval culture, well after his historical masterpiece, The History of the United States of America (1801-1817). Whereas the latter is a serious academic work of history, Mont Saint Michel and Chartres is far more whimsical, a playful meditative reflection on medieval culture. It was published privately in 1904, originally intended simply for his nieces; in 1913, it was made more widely available when published with the support of the American Institute of Architects. Despite having a far less serious intent than his earlier historical writings, Mont Saint Michel and Chartres has garnered high praise: for example, Maurice le Briton said, "Mont-Saint-Michel and Chartres is undoubtedly Adams's greatest work; though not apparently related to his earlier writings, this inspired work of poetry is the crowning achievement of his severe and somber historical oeuvre." A few years after Adams published Mont Saint Michel and Chartres, he published his most famous work, the Education of Henry Adams in 1907. Raymond Carney has said of this pair of works: "Taken together they may be read as Adams' spiritual autobiography--two monumental volumes in which he attempts to bring together in a vast synthesis all of his knowledge of politics, economics, psychology, science, philosophy, art, and literature in order to attempt to understand the individual's place in history and society."