Books

London: Printed for W. Strahan; and T. Cadell, in the Strand, 1782-1788. Rare early editions of the historian's masterpiece. Quarto, 6 volumes, bound in full paper boards, 3 folding engraved maps. The frontispiece portrait of Gibbon is after Sir Joshua Reynolds, the three engraved folding maps are of the Western and Eastern Roman Empire, and a folding map of Constantinople (this map is in its original folded issue, instead of the more common method of having the plate trimmed to the margin and inserted; it is more rare in this folded state). In near fine condition. "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" (PMM 222). "For 22 years Gibbon was a prodigy of steady and arduous application. His investigations extended over almost the whole range of…

Published in six volumes between 1776 and 1788, this extensive work by Edward Gibbon provides a detailed history of the decline of the Roman Empire.