The Roman History – Oliver Goldsmith – 1793 | Two-volume, Origins of Rome

Oliver Goldsmith’s poetry was popular throughout the 19th- and early 20th-centuries. One of his lesser-known historical works was The Roman History, a historical treatise on the foundation of Rome and its rise to world power. Like many other histories of Rome, Goldsmith’s covers the lives and reigns of Julius Caesar, Augustus Caesar, Tiberius, Marc Antony, and Constantine.

Bibliographic Details

• Title: The Roman History: From the Foundation of the City of Rome, to the Destruction of the Western Empire
• Author(s): Oliver Goldsmith
• Publisher: London: Printed for Leigh and Sotheby, B. Law, et al.
• Edition: New Edition, 1793
• Format: (8vo), two volumes
• Binding: Full leather
• Size:  8.25 in x 5.25 in (21 x 13.5 cm)
• Collation:
  • Vol. I: [2], x, 487, [13];
  • Vol. II: viii, 501, [11]
• Contents Include:
  • Introduction on the origins of Roman civilization
  • Accounts of the republican and imperial eras
  • Biographical sketches of leading emperors
  • Sections on Roman governance and decline of the Western Empire
• Provenance: Copious handwritten notes on blank leaves and endpapers

Condition:

Good. Full contemporary leather rubbed with moderate surface wear, corners and edges worn, yet boards remain sound. Binding tight and secure across both volumes. Text blocks firm and complete, with light age toning consistent with 18th-century paper.

Why Collect This?

• 18th-century edition of Goldsmith’s lesser-known historical work
• Complete two-volume set in original full leather
• Contains contemporary reader annotations

Item Number: # 29480