ABSTRACT
Both in general history and in the history of particular subjects the Renaissance is justifiably regarded as the beginning of the modern age. But the early nineteenth century saw a yet sharper turn towards the world to which we are now accustomed. Even in spite of the rapid changes that have taken place during the present century, it requires less effort of the historical imagination to study the life and work of nine teenth-century people through their own lives and in their own context. Among the modern nation states of Europe, Germany and Italy achieved their independent and unified existence during the nineteenth century, and the patterns of industrial civilization spread over and transformed the predominantly agricultural life that had characterized Europe since Antiquity.
