GIBBON, Edward (1737-1794). The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire. London: for W. Strahan and T. Cadell, 1776-1788.

First edition of a "masterpiece of historical penetration and literary style" (PMM). Gibbon's sweeping six-volume history covers the years 98 to 1590, and its surprisingly enduring popularity has resulted in Gibbon's Enlightenment-era nostalgia for lost civilization and sometimes extreme biases (against Catholicism, Islam, and Judaism; the Middle Ages; the Byzantine Empire, etc.) taking hold of the public imagination into the present day. Reading the auspices favorably, Strahan predicted the popularity of the work and doubled the print run from 500 to 1000 copies during the publication process, entailing the resetting of some sheets. Strahan's instincts proved correct, and the entire first thousand copies sold out in a fortnight. In a review in Classics Ireland, Iggy Pop describes his captivation with "the clash of beliefs, personalities and values played out on antiquity's stage by crowds of the vulgar, led by huge archetypal characters;" his album American Caesar was inspired by the book. Grolier English 58; PMM 222; Rothschild 942. See Iggy Pop, "Caesar Lives," in Classics Ireland (1995).

Six volumes, quarto (277 x 215mm). Half-titles, errata leaves in first three vols as issued, errors corrected in vol. 1 through p. 183. Engraved portrait frontispiece after Joshua Reynolds, 3 folding engraved maps (some staining and toning at ends of each folume, one map with closed tear at fold, occasional spots, a little offsetting to title from portrait). Contemporary calf (rebacked and recornered).