Bishop Burnet's History of His Own Time. London: Volume One Printed for Thomas Ward; Volume Two Printed for the Editor, by Joseph Downing and Henry Woodfall. 1724 & 1734.
Volume One: From the Restoration of King Charles II. to the Settlement of King William and King Mary at the Revolution: To Which is Prefix'd a Summary Recapitulation of Affairs in Church and State from King James I. to the Restoration in the Year 1660.
Volume Two: From the Revolution to the Conclusion of the Treaty of Peace at Utrecht, in the Reign of Queen Anne. To Which is Added, the Author's Life, by the Editor.
FIRST EDITION OF BURNET'S FAMOUS CLASSIC AND ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT HISTORICAL WORKS ON 17TH CENTURY ENGLAND, WITH BURNET BEING CALLED "A PIONEER IN THE SCIENTIFIC TREATMENT OF HISTORY".
[Kunitz & Haycraft, 70]
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A fantastic example of the first edition of Burnet's History of His Own Time which went through a significant number of subsequent editions which continue to this day. A lavishly produced set in folio format printed over a ten year timespan.
Though the work was severely criticised by Jonathan Swift and Samuel Johnson, with the Earl of Aylesbury calling Burnet a "lying knave" and his description of him "false as all hell", Burnet's history retains a great reputation, with Burnet being called "one of the most veracious chronicles in the [English] language" (Allibone, 297). The same source suggests that Burnet's account of the revolution of 1688 and the accession of William and Mary "was perhaps greater than that of any other person", which is high praise indeed given the competition there includes David Hume.
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Provenance:
Ink inscription from the author's son, J. Burnett, to the rear of the title page in volume two: "The Original Manuscript of both Volumes of this History will be deposited in the Cotton Library by J Burnett".
J. Burnett, signed all copies of the first edition. The original title page with the inscription on the reverse side is scarce and desirable and is often lacking. This is the first example we have encountered complete with the original title pages.
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Size: 240 x 350 mm (approx., each)
Condition:
[title, advertisement, 12pp., 836pp.]; [title, 20pp., 765pp.]
Spines worn with larger fragments lacking. Tooled labels present with a large fragment lacking from volume one. All boards but the front board of volume one (which is detached) are attached with minor wear to joints and hinges. Boards with very minor scuffing and rubbing. Very minor shelf and edge wear. Dulling to page edges. Endpapers foxed. Text blocks extremely clean with very sporadic very minor foxing. Pen inscription to the reverse side of the title page in volume two.
[OCLC 1114777201; OCLC 1114801852; ESTC T144688; ESTC T144689; MMSID 9930779973804341; MMSID 9930672633804341].
