Beschreibung:

6 volumes. With engraved frontispiece portrait of Gibbon by John Hall after Sir Joshua Reynolds & map of the "Eastern Part of the Roman Empire" in Vol. I; map of "Parts of Europe and Asia Adjacent to Constantinople" in Vol. II (in its rarer folding, uncropped state); map of the "Western Part of the Roman Empire" in Vol. IIl; (4to) 27.7x21.5 cm (11x8½"), period full tree calf, rebacked in modern calf, raised bands, leather labels; Vol. I with modern calf rear cover. Third Edition of Vol. I; First Editions of Vols. II-VI Gibbon's landmark work of historiography, spanning 13 centuries, from the reigns of Trajan and Marcus Aurelius at the close of the Pax Romana, through the establishment of the Byzantine Empire and the Crusades, to the fall of Constantinople. "Gibbon's great erudition, breadth of treatment, and powerful organization render [the History] a lasting monument... His measured and dignified prose is cool, lucid, and enlivened by ironic wit, much of it aimed at the early Church and the credulity and barbarism that overwhelmed the noble Roman virtues he so much admired" (Drabble, The Oxford Companion to English Literature). Gibbon spent over 20 years researching and writing his masterpiece, the first volume of which appeared in 1776 in an edition of 1000 copies. An overnight success, the volume quickly went through two more editions, with a fourth edition, bearing Gibbon's final revisions, readied for the press just as the second and third volumes were set to appear, in 1781. The present set is made up of the 1777 third edition of Vol. I, along with 1781 first editions of Vols. II and III, and 1788 first editions of Vols. IV-VI. Half-titles present in all volumes except Vol. I; errata leaves present in Vols. II, III and VI. PMM 222.