History of England, Bowyer Edition, 10 Volumes 

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Jun 12, 2015 - Jun 13, 2015

Set Reminder 2015-06-12 10:00:00 2015-06-13 10:00:00 America/New_York Bidsquare Bidsquare : American History Live Salesroom Auction https://www.bidsquare.com/auctions/cowans/american-history-live-salesroom-auction-663
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• Lot Description
  Hume, David. The History of England, from the Invasion of Julius Caesar to the Revolution in 1688. London: Robert Bowyer, printed by T. Bensley, 1806. Large folio (20 in. tall), 3/4 green Morocco over marbled paper boards, gilt spine lettering and edges of lea., six spine bands. Each of Hume's volumes is contained in two volumes here (i.e., Hume's Table of Contents for Volume One is contained in Vols. I and 2.) Each chapter with initial illustrated page. Edges of leaves not trimmed.
  
  Vol. 1: frontis of Hume, documents presenting the work to the king and parliament, life of David Hume (i-viii), letter (ix-xiii), [xiv-xvi], second frontis, 352pp. This volume covers the Britons, Anglo-Saxons, Norman conquest, through Stephen (1135-1154).
  
  Vol. 2: tp, pp. 353 - 759, Henry II to the reign of Edward I and the continued attempt of Scotland to revolt under William Wallace and Robert Bruce.
  
  Vol. 3: tp, Table of Contents (Second Volume), [1]-428. Edward II to Edward IV (1482).
  
  Vol. 4: tp, pp 429 - 883. Edward V to Henry VIII (table of contents indicates that Henry VII has two chapters, and Henry VIII has six). (1547)
  
  Vol. 5: tp, Table of Contents (3rd Volume). Pp. [1] - 384. Edward VI to Elizabeth (I).
  
  Vol. 6: tp, pp. 385 - 821. Elizabeth to James (1625). In the Appendix to the Reign of James I, Hume goes into various topics, such as government, ecclesiastical government, manners, finances, military matters, manufactures, colonies and the arts. He notes: "What chiefly renders the reign of James memorable is the commencement of the English colonies in America;... Queen Elizabeth had done little more than given a name to the continent of Virginia; and, after her planting one feeble colony, which quickly decayed, that country was entirely abandoned." He also addresses literature and the arts, including Shakespeare and the other poets and writers, Chaucer, Spenser, Johnson, Milton, Bacon, etc.
  
  Vol. 7: tp, Table of Contents (Fourth Volume), [1] - 411. Charles I to 1647. (Charles I has ten chapters.)
  
  Vol. 8: tp, 413 - 836. Charles I to Charles II (1674).
  
  Vol. 9: tp, Table of Contents, Charles II to James II. pp. [1] - 322. (ca 1689).
  
  Vol. 10: tp, 323 - 638. James II (to 341). Remainder of vol. is notes and index, etc.
  
  Hume's The History of England first appeared in six volumes in 1754, 1756, 1759 and 1761. The first two volumes to be published were 5 (1754) and 6 (1756), under the title The History of Great Britain, covering basically 1603-1688. The history of the Tudors was the subsequent two volumes, and finally two volumes tracing the origins of the English nation, and becoming the History of England. Hume was one of the first to focus on topics other than kings and battles, such as manners, arts, manufactures, government, finance.
  
  The work was long considered the standard of English history, even though it upset all political persuasions. But as a result, it has gone through at least a hundred editions. This, Bowyer's massive "atlas folio," is one of the more sumptuous and desirable ones, including 196 illustrations. Originally sold to subscribers in paper and card folios with paper labels on front, who then had them bound to suit.
  
  These volumes show enough wear to make one believe they have been in the family for generations, but not enough to endanger the integrity of the volume. 

  Condition

  Generally, all volumes with some sooting of front page edges. Moderate to heavy shelf wear with occasional scraping of spine leather. Bindings all tight. Only one volume with any toning noted, and that, scattered and light. These have been moved several times in over two centuries, not the least of which was London to the states. A bit of wear and bumping is not unexpected. Most of the tissue guards for illustrations are intact. Bookplate of Herbert Oakeley on front pastedown. Other previous owners' signatures on endpapers.
  
  Vol. 1: wear to foot of spine and lower borders. A few tears to paper of front board. Internal hinges cracked but holding. Corners bumped. Binding still tight. Minor handling wear and surface soil to page edges, but no toning or foxing evident.
  
  Vol. 2: wear to lower edges and corners, but much less than first vol. One signature (6B) loose at bottom as bound. (Only top of pages caught, but they are still tight). Page edges with some soot. Occasional very light toning (maybe only a couple pages per hundred, although we did not count them, only noted that they existed), probably related to page chemistry. Spine ends worn slightly.
  
  Vol. 3: Some wear to lower corners and spine ends. Slight sooting to front page edges.
  
  Vol. 4: Some wear to edges and head and foot of spine. Sooting to front edges of pages. Small strip on front and back of spine where just the surface layer has been scuffed off. a bump on the upper half of the front edge of board.
  
  Vol. 5: Moderate shelf wear and wear to spine ends. Corners worn and bumped. Sooting to front page edges. Minor handling wear (occasional sooty fingerprints).
  
  Vol. 6: Heavy shelfwear on bottom edges, and to head and foot of spine. slight corner bumping. A few scrapes to leather of spine. No toning or foxing noted. Soot on front edges.
  
  Vol. 7: Moderate shelfwear. Some corner bumping. A few scratches on spine leather. Front edge sooting. No toning or foxing noted.
  
  Vol. 8: Moderate shelfwear and wear to spine ends. Corners bumped. Some scraping of front and rear outer hinges. No toning or foxing noted.
  
  Vol. 9: Moderate shelfwear, slight wear to head and foot of spine. Corners bumped, esp. rear board. some scuffing of leather on outer hinges.
  
  Vol. 10: Heavy shelfwear, and wear to spine ends. Corners bumped. Front edge sooty. One tissue guard torn.
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