The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire
John Murray, 1862.
Eight volumes. Finely bound by Riviere in red half morocco, five raised bands, lettered and decorated in gilt. Top edge gilt. Portrait frontispiece of Gibbon after Joshua Reynolds to the first volume. Folding map frontispieces to the other seven volumes. A handsome, fine set, with just a little wear to the spine ends.
A fine set of one of the great works of eighteenth century scholarship. In December 1788 Adam Smith wrote to congratulate Gibbon on the completion of the work: "by the universal assent of every man of taste and learning... it sets you at the very head of the whole literary tribe at present existing in Europe".
"The Decline and Fall is remarkable for the way Gibbon pushed at the edges of received opinions, and found fresh and fruitful ways of linking approaches and subjects which elsewhere lay unconnected. It is for this reason that the Decline and Fall occupies the summit of European Enlightenment historiography. It engages with, carries forward, and extends what is most vital in that body of writing" (ODNB).
Stock ID: 38950
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