The History of England from the invasion of Julius Caesar to the revolution in 1688 ; v. 4 / by David Hume. 1770
29.0 x 4.5 cm (book measurement (inventory)) | RCIN 1027689
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David Hume's History of England was one of the seminal histories in the eighteenth century. First printed between 1754 and 1761, it covers the history of England, and, in later volumes, Great Britain, from the invasion of Julius Caesar through to the Glorious Revolution of 1688. Hume was a Scot, and, in the years following the Jacobite Rebellion of 1745, anti-Scottish sentiment in England was high. The History was a way for Hume to emphasise that the ruling Hanoverian dynasty was a legitimate one, James VII & II having forfeited the Crown by fleeing London in 1688. This type of history provided a grand narrative of English history, one of triumph, decline and resurgence, themes that inspired similar narrative histories such as Edward Gibbon's History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, which was first published between 1776 and 1789. Although not absolutely accurate, and often politically biased, it remained influential until well into the nineteenth century.
Provenance
From the library of George III at Windsor
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Creator(s)
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Measurements
29.0 x 4.5 cm (book measurement (inventory))
Category