Edward Gibbon

Robert Mankin (Université Paris VII Denis Diderot)
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Engraving by William Holl the Younger after Sir Joshua Reynolds, 1853. Courtesy The Walter Scott Digital Archive, Edinburgh University Library.

Edward Gibbon is known primarily as the author of one great book, The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire (1776-1788), a book that is for a variety of reasons—historical, historiographic, stylistic and cultural—so very great that we may be tempted to speak of Gibbon in absolute terms as England’s first great historian.

Edward Gibbon is known primarily as the author of one great book,

The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire

(1776-1788), a book that is for a variety of reasons—historical, historiographic, stylistic and cultural—so very great that we may be tempted to speak of Gibbon in absolute terms as…

3602 words

Citation: Mankin, Robert. "Edward Gibbon". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 30 March 2005 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=1726, accessed 19 March 2024.]

1726 Edward Gibbon 1 Historical context notes are intended to give basic and preliminary information on a topic. In some cases they will be expanded into longer entries as the Literary Encyclopedia evolves.

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