1804-05 · Philadelphia
by (BINDINGS - SETS). GIBBON, EDWARD
Philadelphia: Printed by Robert Carr for William Y. Birch & Abraham Small, 1804-05. First American Edition. 220x 140 mm. (8 5/8 x 5 1/2"). Eight volumes..
EXCELLENT CONTEMPORARY AMERICAN FLAMED SHEEP, flat spine divided into panels by double gilt fillets, red morocco labels. With engraved portrait and three folding maps, as called for. Norton 48; PMM 222 (first edition). Variably foxed and browned internally because of poor paper quality (with the endpapers and engraved leaves noticeably affected), 15 leaves in the final volume with small ink stain at edge of book block, just encroaching onto the fore margin, other small issues, but the text by and large perfectly readable and not unpleasant. Top of the rear joint of first volume just beginning to show wear, but in all other respects, AN AMAZINGLY WELL-PRESERVED SET of original unrestored rustic bindings.
This is a remarkable set of the first American printing of Gibbon's magnum opus, a sprawling work giving a comprehensive account of the entire Mediterranean area from the first century A.D. to the fall of Constantinople in 1453. According to PMM, Gibbon's "masterpiece of historical penetration and literary style has remained one of the ageless historical works which . . . maintain their hold upon the layman and continue to stimulate the scholar." To his vast task, "Gibbon brought a width of vision and a critical mastery of the available sources which have not been equaled to this day; and the result was clothed in an inimitable prose" that was elevated, cadenced, and graceful. DNB concludes that "'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." Gibbon (1737-94) spent 20 years on his saga, publishing the first volume in 1776 and the last in 1788. The present work is of special interest as the first American edition, published in Philadelphia during the heyday of printing in that city. According to the Encyclopedia of Greater Philadelphia, "Between 1750 and 1800, Philadelphia became the center for book printing and publishing in the United States, surpassing New York and Boston. . . . Printers gravitated to Philadelphia because of its large, cosmopolitan population, as well as its high concentration of learned organizations." The present eight-volume opus, which would have been a major undertaking for any publisher, reflects that growing audience of educated individuals seeking scholarly works in a more sophisticated (even if New-World) setting. Although sheep bindings have a reputation for showing their wear, the present set is a happy exception, being in unaccountably fine condition and looking quite fetching in their lustrous simplicity on the shelf.. (Inventory #: ST20298)
EXCELLENT CONTEMPORARY AMERICAN FLAMED SHEEP, flat spine divided into panels by double gilt fillets, red morocco labels. With engraved portrait and three folding maps, as called for. Norton 48; PMM 222 (first edition). Variably foxed and browned internally because of poor paper quality (with the endpapers and engraved leaves noticeably affected), 15 leaves in the final volume with small ink stain at edge of book block, just encroaching onto the fore margin, other small issues, but the text by and large perfectly readable and not unpleasant. Top of the rear joint of first volume just beginning to show wear, but in all other respects, AN AMAZINGLY WELL-PRESERVED SET of original unrestored rustic bindings.
This is a remarkable set of the first American printing of Gibbon's magnum opus, a sprawling work giving a comprehensive account of the entire Mediterranean area from the first century A.D. to the fall of Constantinople in 1453. According to PMM, Gibbon's "masterpiece of historical penetration and literary style has remained one of the ageless historical works which . . . maintain their hold upon the layman and continue to stimulate the scholar." To his vast task, "Gibbon brought a width of vision and a critical mastery of the available sources which have not been equaled to this day; and the result was clothed in an inimitable prose" that was elevated, cadenced, and graceful. DNB concludes that "'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." Gibbon (1737-94) spent 20 years on his saga, publishing the first volume in 1776 and the last in 1788. The present work is of special interest as the first American edition, published in Philadelphia during the heyday of printing in that city. According to the Encyclopedia of Greater Philadelphia, "Between 1750 and 1800, Philadelphia became the center for book printing and publishing in the United States, surpassing New York and Boston. . . . Printers gravitated to Philadelphia because of its large, cosmopolitan population, as well as its high concentration of learned organizations." The present eight-volume opus, which would have been a major undertaking for any publisher, reflects that growing audience of educated individuals seeking scholarly works in a more sophisticated (even if New-World) setting. Although sheep bindings have a reputation for showing their wear, the present set is a happy exception, being in unaccountably fine condition and looking quite fetching in their lustrous simplicity on the shelf.. (Inventory #: ST20298)
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