THE HISTORY OF THE DECLINE AND FALL OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE.
Six volumes.
- London: Printed for W. Strahan; and T. Cadell (vols. IV-VI give "A. Strahan and T. Cadell"), 1788-1789.
- 4to.
- Contemporary polished calf, expertly rebacked with original spines laid down, covers with triple gilt borders, spine bands ruled in gilt and decoratively tooled and letterd in gilt in compartments, gilt board edges and turn-ins, marbled endsheets
- Frontispiece, vi, (xiv), 704; (x), 640; (x), 640; (ii), viii, (viii), 620; (x), 684; (xii), 646, (52) pages, with one additional leaf and three foldouts.
- ISBN: none
Price: $4,500.00 other currencies
Order Nr. 141506
"A new edition" of Volumes I-III; first edition of Volumes IV-VI (Printing in the Mind of Man no.222; Rothchild no.945; Norton 28 (Volumes I-III), and 29 (Volumes IV-VI)). Some light end and edge wear, else a fine set.
Engraved frontispiece portrait in Volume I by John Hall after Sir Joshua Reynolds. Three engraved maps (one in Volume I and two folding maps in Volume V).
The first volume of Gibbon's work appeared in 1776 and quickly went to three editions. As each succesive volume was published many of the earlier volumes were reprinted; thus it is common to find sets of mixed editions.
"This masterpiece of historical penetration and literary style has remained one of the ageless historical works which, like the writings of Macaulay and Mommsen, maintain their hold upon the layman and continue to stimulate the scholar although they have been superseded in many, if not most, details by subsequent advance of research and changes in the climate of opinion. Whereas other eighteenth-century writers in this field, such as Voltaire, are still quoted with respect, the Decline and Fall is the only historical narrative prior to Macaulay which continues to be reprinted and actually read" (Printing and the Mind of Man 222).