CLARENDON, Edward Hyde, Earl of. The History of the Rebellion and Civil Wars in England, Begun in the Year 1641. With the precedent Passages, and Actions, that contributed thereunto, and the happy End, and Conclusion thereof by the King’s blessed Restoration, and Return upon the 29th of May, in the Year 1660. Oxford: Printed at the Theater. 1732.
Three parts in one vol., folio. Contemporary speckled calf, spine gilt ruled in compartments, gilt red morocco lettering-piece in one; pp. [4], viii, 4, 236, [4], 237-484, [8], 485-737, [17], [2 (blank)], with an engraved frontispiece portrait of the author by Robert White after Peter Lely, and 29 engraved plates (one folding), including maps and several portraits after Van Dyck, Johnson and others, engraved vignette to title, woodcut initials; rebacked retaining original spine, corners repaired, extremities slightly rubbed, lettering piece chipped; occasional light spotting and light marginal toning, light offsetting, title-page a little soiled, the odd stain, but generally very good; engraved bookplate of David Durell to front pastedown (see below); “L Libris Phi… 1766” in ink to front free endpaper.
Second illustrated edition of Clarendon’s landmark history of the English Civil War.
Edward Hyde, first earl of Clarendon (1609-1674) enjoyed a sensational political career, rising to the post of Lord Chancellor to Charles II before being charged with treason and exiled to France. It was only after his fall from grace that he completed his History of the Rebellion. Published between 1702 and 1704, thirty years after Clarendon’s death, the book chronicles the events of the Civil War, from the early reign of Charles I to the Restoration of the Stuart monarchy.
The History is “the most sophisticated and finely balanced history yet written in English (or written for a long time afterwards) … a distinctive work of art based on a highly wrought style, a forensic dissection of character and issue, and a sense of the depth of individuals’ moral responsibility for their actions” (ODNB).
This edition is illustrated with thirty finely engraved plates, including portraits of key figures of the Civil War (several after celebrated seventeenth-century artists such as Anthony van Dyck and Cornelius Johnson), maps and depiction of battles (notably Edgehill and Naseby). Issued in both folio and octavo formats, it follows the 1717 edition, likewise printed in Oxford “at the Theater”.
Provenance: From the library of the Hebrew scholar David Durell (1728-1775), Principal of Hertford College (1757), Canon of Canterbury Cathedral (1767), and Vice-Chancellor of the University of Oxford (1765). He is the author of several works on the Old Testament.
ESTC T53946
#2123090