Ancient History

London: T. Cadell; J. Rivington et al., 1828. 8 volume set,8 3/4 inches tall. A later half calf with gilt raised bands. twin labels and ornate gilt centre tools. Pink speckled edges. 1 engraved portrait and 3 engraved folding maps. Some rubbing, a couple of chipped head caps, slight grubby and with foxing to the maps. A solid complete, set with a clean highly readable text, of probably the greatest Ancient History in the English language.

London: Thomas Tegg, 1827. 2 volume set, 6 1/2 inches tall. A beautiful little Georgian full calf binding with gilt raised bands, extra gilt panels and contrasting maroon labels. Twin gilt fillets, triple blind fillets and blind corner tools frame the boards. An engraved title page in both volumes. Oliver Goldsmith, novelist, poet and historian influenced later English authors Charles Dickens, Jane Austen, George Eliot, and Mary Shelley, all of whom mention his characters in their own novels. This set covers the period "From the Foundation of the City of Rome to the Destruction of the Western Empire". A delightful set.

London: W. Allason; et al., 1819. 12 volume set, 8 1/4 inches tall. A exceptionally good looking Regency full calf with wide extra gilt raised bands, blind tooling to the panels and twin labels. With one engraved portrait and two folding maps, as called for. A few small marks to the boards, otherwise in excellent condition, inside and out. First published in 1776, Gibbon's 'Decline and Fall' was initially planned as a history of the final years of the Roman Empire but was expanded in scope to the history of the whole Roman Empire. It is still considered to be one of the greatest histories ever written.

London: John Murray, 1869. Full morocco, 8 1/2 inches tall. A splendid heavy Victorian full hard grain morocco with the coronet and initials of Baron Saye et Sele of the Twisleton-Wykeham-Fiennes family in the top panel. With gilt raised bands and very fine gilt tooling to the panels, gilt dentelles and all edges. With a gilt blocked crest on both boards and prize bookplate on the paste down endpaper. Foxing to the preliminaries, then clean. Slight rubbing. An impressive copy of this biography of the great Roman statesman and philosopher.

Paris: Chez Nyon, Saillant, Desaint, 1766. 2 volume set, 6 3/4 inches tall. A beautiful 18th century tree calf binding from the celebrated Library of Lord Macclesfield and with his 2 armorial bookplates and, as usual, his armorial blind stamps. With gilt bands, superb gilt tooling to the panels and twin labels. Yellow edges. The contents are complete with the two folding engraved plates and woodcut devices to the title page, decorative initials and head and tail pieces. Slight rubbing. This is the history of Xenophon's brilliant military leadership in leading the 10,000 Greek mercenaries in their retreat from Cyrus's attempt to take control of the Achaemenid Empire in the 4th century B.C.. In the original French.

London: Arthur L. Humphreys, 1907. Full morocco, 8 1/2 inches tall. A splendid Edwardian binding in full crushed morocco with raised bands, gilt lettering, gilt dentelles and top edge. a dark mark on a couple of bands, otherwise pristine. From the Library of the Late Christopher Foyle of Beeleigh Abbey. A typically luxurious printing on hand-made paper by Humphreys. This is one of the tall scarcer titles in this great series.

London: George Cowie, 1825. 2 volume set, 8 1/2 inches tall. Handsome half calf with gilt raised bands, twin labels and gilt pallets and star centre tools. Heavy offsetting facing the folding map, otherwise clean. A neat set of this classic ancient history.

Leyden: Elzevir, 1656. Full morocco, 5 inches tall. A delightful little 18th century French crushed morocco binding with gilt bands, floral gilt tooling to the panels and contrasting green label.. Triple gilt fillets and corner tools frame the boards. With map of Alexander's expedition, engraved title and portrait. This is a lovely little copy of the only known work of Curtius the first century Roman historian. In the original Latin.

London: Henry G. Bohn, 1854. 2 volume set, 9 inches tall. A very smart mid-Victorian full calf with gilt raised bands, beautifully gilt tooled panels and twin labels. Two gilt fillets frame the boards. Maps. A neat inscription dated 1864 "on leaving Eton" is written on the first blank. An important and scarce history translated from the original German.

Göttingen: Ruprecht, 1807. 6 volume set, 7 inches tall. A handsome full vellum with calf labels, some chipped. Foxing. A set of Livy's Histories in the original Latin edited by Georg Alexander Rupert. From an Oxfordshire Country House.

Amsterdam: Johannis van Someren, 1670. 3 volume set, 7.75 inches tall. A wonderful set in a full crushed morocco, unsigned but possibly by Clarke at the beginning of the 19th century. With raised bands, twin labels and superb gilt floral tooling to the panels. Gilt dentelles and all edges. Armorial bookplate. Fine engraved title pages to the first 2 volumes. In the original Greek. Slightly faded spines but still a splendid set which describes the rise of the Roman Republic to the status of dominance in the ancient Mediterranean world. Famously it includes Polybius's eyewitness account of the Sack of Carthage and Corinth in 146 BC and the Roman annexation of the mainland Greece after the Achaean War.