Edward Gibbon THE TURN OF THE TIDE Folio Society
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Edward Gibbon THE TURN OF THE TIDE Folio Society
First Folio edition, first print hardback in slipcase of The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire VOLUME I THE TURN OF THE TIDE by Edward Gibbon. Edited and with an introduction by Betty Radice and published by The Folio Society Ltd., London, in 1983. Illustrated with numerous monochrome engravings within the text. This the first of eight volumes 1983 Folio edition in individual Slipcases.The book is in near fine condition (Clean maroon boards with gilt decorations and lettering on spine and gilt frame decoration on front in beige buff marble effect slipcase). The slipcase is in good condition with slight wear (light cracking/ rubbing/ peeling to the top spine edges and slight rubbing to the bottom open corners). Internally, the pages are clean and tight and there are no tears and no inscriptions.
At the age of 15 Gibbon was sent to Magdalene College, Oxford a period he later referred to as the one in which he was most idle. While he was unsuited to the academic lifestyle, the college had a great effect on him, introducing him to radical free thinkers and new philosophies. Under his aunts tutelage he had always had an interest in religion and the power it exerts on life. At university, having discussed religion with many of the great thinkers and theologians of the day, he converted to Roman Catholicism. At a time when Catholics were still denied the right to own property, inherit land and join the army, this was a radical act. His father immediately recalled him from university and his free thinking associates and sent him to Lausanne, Switzerland into the care of a Protestant pastor.
When he returned to England, he began working on his first book, Essai sur l'?tude de la Litt?rature, published in 1761. The book was a success and established Gibbon as a respected man of letters, well known in the salons of Europe. After publication he served in the South Hampshire Militia, in reserve during the Seven Years War. When the militia was disbanded at the end of the war he vowed to embark on a grand tour of Europe. In 1763 he set off, visiting France and then on to Rome. In Rome he was deeply moved by the ruins of the Forum and the beauty of the Roman civilisation. He became obsessed by the idea of writing a history of how Rome came to fall into the ruins he saw before him which led to the writing of the most famous of all Edward Gibbon books which he claimed to have thought of while seated on Capitoline Hill his Capitoline vision.
In 1770 Gibbon's father died and having returned to England, he now found himself to be a wealthy man. He settled in London and joined a number of sophisticated social clubs. He became a Freemason and even an MP for Liskerd, Cornwall. These pursuits however did not distract him from his writing. After seven years of research Gibbon published the first volume of his The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire in 1776. The book was another success, making Gibbon one of the most famous historians of the age. This fresh take on the fall of the Roman Empire relied heavily on primary sources and was extremely controversial in its argument that the decline was largely the result of the increasing influence of Christianity in draining the traditional marital spirit of the Romans. The rest of the volumes were published in 1781, 1787 and 1788 creating a collection of six.
Edward Gibbons masterpiece has never been surpassed for scholarship or elegant prose, remaining an everlasting historical classic. The spread of Christianity; the Barbarian invasions; the various sacks of Rome by Goths, Huns and Vandals; the Crusades; the conquests of Genghis Khan and Tamerlane; the rise of Islam ... From the Antonine Emperors to the fall of Constantinople in 1453, The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire ranges over thirteen centuries with flair and wit. A spectacular cast includes Attila the Hun, the Prophet Mohammad, the Holy Roman Emperor Charlemagne and the Byzantine Emperor Justinian, who re-conquered North Africa and Italy with the aid of his illustrious general, Belisarius. A perennial favourite, and the blueprint for any study of history.
Volume I: The Turn of the Tide
Volume II: Constantine and the Christian Empire
Volume III: The Revival and Collapse of Paganism
Volume IV: The End of the Western Empire
Volume V: Justinian and the Roman Law
Volume VI: Mohammed and the Rise of the Arabs
Volume VII: The Normans in Italy and the Crusades
Volume VIII: The Fall of Constantinople and the Papacy in Rome
'I was immediately dominated both by the story and the style. I rode triumphantly through it from end to end and enjoyed it all. I scribbled all my opinions on the margins of the pages, and very soon found myself a vehement partisan of the author.' - WINSTON CHURCHILL
320 pages. Index and maps on the endpaper.
ISBN: n/a
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Edward Gibbon THE TURN OF THE TIDE Folio Society