The History of England By Hume and Smollett With a Continuation to the Present Time

London : Virtue and Co., c1878. Cloth. Good Only. 11" by 7.5". None. An illustrated History of England with steel engravings and colour maps. The History of England from the Invasion of Julius Caesar to the end of the Reign of James II By David Hume; continued From the Reign of William and Mary to the Death of George II by Fifteen divisions of sixteen being four volumes bound in sixteen divisions. The History of England (1754 - 62) is David Hume's great work on England's history which was written in instalments while he was serving as librarian to the Faculty of Advocates in Edinburgh. His History became a best-seller, finally giving him the financial independence he had long sought. Both the British Library and the Cambridge University Library still list him as "David Hume, the historian." More a category of books than a single work, Hume's History spanned "from the invasion of Julius Caesar to the Revolution of 1688" and went through over 100 editions. Many considered it the standard history of England until Thomas Macaulay's The History of England from the Accession of James the Second. Tobias George Smollett (1721 - 1771) was a Scottish poet and author. He was best known for his picaresque novels, such as The Adventures of Roderick Random and The Adventures of Peregrine Pickle, which influenced later novelists such as Charles Dickens. Smollett wrote what he regarded as his major work, A Complete History of England, from 1757 to 1765. Plates have not been bound according to binder's instructions, rather they are bound in to front of divisions. With 'Virtue and Co.' binders label to rear pastedowns. In cloth bindings. Externally, sound but with some fading to spines, wear to extremities and occasional rubbing, stains and marks to boards. Slight loss to head and tail of some spines. One hinge slightly strained, four strained, three tender and three failed with backstrip lifting from text block. Internally, firmly bound although a couple of endpapers starting due to hinges. Bright and generally clean throughout but with slight foxing and marginal tidemarks predominantly to plates. Title page to volume four and directions to binder bound in to rear of Division XVI. With title pages to volumes one to three, six plates and one map absent. Division XII is absent. Good Only