£1,995.00
RALEIGH, Sir Walter. The History of the World, in Five Books. Eleventh edition, printed from a copy revised by himself. To which is prefixed The Life of the Author, newly compiled by William Oldys, together with Raleigh’s trial and a new and more copious index. London: printed for G. Conyers, J. J. and P. Knapton, D. Midwinter, A. Bettesworth and others, 1736. 2 volumes, folio. Title pages printed in red and black; engraved portrait of Sir Walter Raleigh. Bound in period full calf, spines with raised bands, gilt decoration and red morocco lettering pieces. Bindings considerably rubbed and worn, with wear and losses to joints, spine ends and extremities; interiors generally clean and well preserved for age. Eleventh edition of Raleigh’s monumental history, first published in 1614.
Sir Walter Raleigh’s monumental History of the World, 1736 eleventh edition, complete in two substantial folio volumes and retaining period calf bindings. With red-and-black title pages, an engraved portrait of Raleigh, William Oldys’ Life of the Author, and an account of Raleigh’s trial. An imposing eighteenth-century edition of the great historical work written by one of Elizabethan England’s most celebrated explorers, courtiers and writers.
Year: 1736
Edition: Eleventh Edition
Publisher: G. Conyers, J. J. and P. Knapton, D. Midwinter, A. Bettesworth and others, London
Written by one of the most celebrated and controversial figures of the Elizabethan age, The History of the World is Sir Walter Raleigh’s monumental attempt to tell the history of civilisation from antiquity.
Explorer, soldier, courtier, writer and favourite of Queen Elizabeth I, Raleigh experienced extraordinary reversals of fortune. Under James I he was imprisoned in the Tower of London, where he devoted years to writing this enormous historical work. First published in 1614, it became one of the great English historical works of the seventeenth century.
This handsome 1736 eleventh edition, published more than a century after Raleigh’s execution, is presented in two substantial folio volumes. The title pages are strikingly printed in red and black, and the work includes the important engraved portrait of Raleigh.
This edition also contains William Oldys’ substantial biography, The Life of Sir Walter Raleigh, together with an account of Raleigh’s trial and an extensive index.
This is a particularly evocative opportunity to own Raleigh’s greatest literary achievement in an imposing eighteenth-century edition.
The two volumes retain their historic leather bindings, with raised bands, gilt decoration and red leather spine labels. The bindings show considerable age and wear, but this contrasts with the remarkably attractive interiors visible in the photographs, including the handsome red-and-black typography and engraved portrait.
For collectors interested in Elizabethan England, early exploration, English literature or the history of historical writing, Raleigh is a compelling figure: a man associated with the expansion of England overseas who ultimately wrote his great history while imprisoned by the Crown.
Two volumes in period full calf, with gilt-decorated spines and red morocco title labels. Bindings heavily rubbed and worn, with wear and losses at joints, spine ends and extremities; some cracking to joints. Internally generally clean and well preserved for age from the pages examined. Engraved portrait present. Please refer closely to the photographs, which form an important part of the condition description.
