Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire - photo 1
Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire - photo 2
Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire - photo 3

Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire

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$ 18 900
Auction dateClassic
06.10.2022 12:00UTC -04:00
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CHRISTIE'S
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USA, New York
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ID 813770
Lot 44 | Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire
Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire

Edward Gibbon, 1776-1788

GIBBON, Edward (1737-1794). The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire. London: for W. Strahan and T. Cadell, 1776-1788.



First edition, first state of a "masterpiece of historical penetration and literary style," a crisp set in contemporary calf (PMM). Gibbon's sweeping six-volume history covers the years 98 to 1590, and its surprisingly enduring popularity has resulted in Gibbon's Enlightenment-era perspective taking hold of the public imagination into the present day. Reading the auspices favorably, Strahan predicted the popularity of the work and doubled the print run from 500 to 1000 copies during the publication process, entailing the resetting of some sheets. Strahan's instincts proved correct, and the entire first thousand copies sold out in a fortnight. In a review in Classics Ireland, Iggy Pop describes his captivation with "the clash of beliefs, personalities and values played out on antiquity's stage by crowds of the vulgar, led by huge archetypal characters;" his album American Caesar was inspired by the book. This copy is the first state, with the cancellans leaves as described by Rothschild and the errata uncorrected (although the misprints he notes in vol. 3 are corrected). The gatherings *a, *b, and the author portrait are bound in the second volume, and the errata leaf for vol. 2 is bound with vol 3 (it was printed on the same half-sheet as the vol. 3 errata). Grolier English 58; PMM 222; Rothschild 942. See Iggy Pop, "Caesar Lives," in Classics Ireland (1995).



Six volumes, quarto (263 x 217mm). Half titles in each vol., all 4 errata leaves. Author portrait, 3 folding maps (one map with small stub tear, leaf in vol. 2 with repaired tear across text, occasional spotting and toning. Contemporary calf (vol 1 neatly rebacked, some vols with small restorations to spine, a few joints starting).



With: GIBBON, Edward. Miscellaneous Works. London: Strahan and Cadell, 1796. Three volumes. Contemporary calf, uniform with the above set.

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