c. 1807 David Hume, "The History of England..."

An early 19th-century complete eight-volume set of David Hume’s The History of England, from the Invasion of Julius Caesar to the Revolution in 1688, published in London in 1807. Written by Scottish Enlightenment philosopher and historian David Hume, the work traces English history from Roman Britain through the Revolution of 1688 and became one of the most widely read histories of England of the 18th and early 19th centuries. This edition is described on the title page as a “new edition” incorporating Hume’s final corrections and improvements and includes his autobiographical account of his life.

Bound as a handsome uniform set in warm brown leather, each spine is divided into raised compartments with gilt lettering and stylized gilt floral decoration. The richly worn leather, softened gilt, and natural crackling across the spines give the set exactly the kind of patina that makes antique books so decorative. Beautiful displayed together on a library shelf, stacked beneath an object, or worked into an old-world collection of paintings, silver, and darker woods.

Origin: c. 1807; London, England
Author: David Hume
Title: The History of England, from the Invasion of Julius Caesar to the Revolution in 1688
Edition: New edition with the author’s final corrections and improvements; complete in eight volumes.
Material: Leather-bound volumes with gilt-tooled spines and printed paper pages.
Condition: Antique condition with substantial age-related wear to the leather bindings, including rubbing, surface cracking, fading and losses to the gilt decoration, most pronounced along the spines and extremities. Scattered foxing and toning are visible to the pages. The set retains a wonderfully aged, cohesive appearance. I’d want to see the hinges/covers and a few interior pages before stating whether all bindings are structurally sound.