"...the greatest historical work ever written" (Adams, pp.146-147)
The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire by Edward Gibbon. London: W. Strahan & T. Cadell, 1781-1788, 4to.
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"This masterpiece of historical penetration and literary style has remained one of the ageless historical works. Gibbon brought a width of vision and a critical mastery of the available sources which have not been equalled to this day; and the result was clothed in inimitable prose" (Printing and the Mind of Man, 222).
As with the vast majority of extant first edition sets, this set has the first volume supplied from a later edition, but unlike most extant sets, every other volume in this set is from the first edition. Only 500 copies of the first state of the first volume were printed, and so most first edition sets have the first volume supplied from an edition more contemporary with the later volumes, as here. Our set has the fourth edition of Volume I (dated 1781) and first edition of the five following volumes (1781 for Volumes II and III, and 1788 for Volumes IV to VI), clearly all purchased together and subsequently bound together circa 1790.
The set is illustrated with a portrait of the author as a frontispiece engraved by J. Hall after Joshua Reynolds, a folding map of Europe bound at the end of the first volume (A Map of the Western Part of the Roman Empire) by Th. Kitchin, a map of Constantinople and the Sea of Marmara (pp.22 of Volume II), and a folding map of Europe bound at the end of the second volume (A Map of the Eastern Part of the Roman Empire) by Th. Kitchin. All three maps called for are present.
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Size: 232 x 295 mm (approx., each)
Condition:
[(3), frontis, t.p., iii-vi, 1ff. (advertisement), 12pp., 704pp., foldout map, (3)]; [(3), t.p., 7pp., pp.1-22, map, pp.23-544, pp.537-640, foldout map, 1ff. (errata), (3)]; [(3), t.p., 7pp., 640pp., 1ff. (errata), (3)]; [(3), t.p., i-viii, 7pp., 620pp., (3)]; [(3), h.t., t.p., 8pp., 684pp., (3)]; [(3), h.t., t.p., 9pp., 646pp., 51pp., 1pp. (errata), (3)].
6 volumes, quarto (232 x 295 mm), finely bound in contemporary English red-brown Russia leather, spines richly gilt in compartments between raised bands, brown morocco lettering pieces, gilt volume numbering, boards framed with gilt fillets, all edges gilt (bindings circa 1790). Headcaps worn, corners rubbed, joints heavily rubbed and partially cracked, some scuffing and scratching to the boards, but with all boards attached. With all three maps and the attractive frontispiece engraved after Joshua Reynolds. Some small closed tears to pp.469-472 in volume two and pp.23-24 in volume three. Small loss to the bottom corner of pp.97-98 in volume five, not affecting text. Very small hole to the margin of pp.263-264, pp.271-272, & pp.279-280 in volume five. Else generally bright and clean throughout each volume. Three of four errata leaves present; this set is bound with two of the half titles and includes all three called for maps.
[PMM 222; Adams "Manual of Historical Literature" pp.146-147; ].
