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Alphonse Aulard (1849–1928) was the first French historian to use nineteenth-century historicist methods in the study of the French Revolution. Pioneered by German historians such as Leopold van Ranke, this approach emphasised empiricism, objectivity and the scientific pursuit of facts, rather than philosophical and literary concerns. Aulard's commitment to archival investigation is evidenced by the many edited collections of primary sources that appear in his extensive publication record. In these eight volumes of papers analysing the French Revolution (published 1893–1921), Aulard sought to apply the principles of historicism to reveal the truth. The work draws on earlier journal articles and lectures which Aulard delivered as Professor of the History of the French Revolution at the Sorbonne, a post he had held since 1885. Volume 6 (1910) describes the development of the motto 'Liberty, Equality, Fraternity', and assesses the accuracy of early accounts of the Revolution.
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