THE ANCIENT HISTORY of the Egyptians, Carthaginians, Assyrians, Medes and Persians, Grecians and Macedonians, 8 Vols.

New York: Robinson , Pratt & Co., 1841. First Edition Thus. . Full-Leather. Good to Good Plus/Issued Without Jackets. This history of the ancient nations of the Near East and Mediterranean by 18th century French educator and historian, Charles Rollin, made history interesting and entertaining to thousands of readers for well over a century until superseded by more accurate and careful works. Originally published in 12 volumes in Paris between 1730 and 1738, this 8-volume Robinson, Pratt edition is a First Edition Thus, translated from the French with a 37-page "A Life of the Author" prefixed to Vol. I. This is a complete set, all 8 volumes, which can be generally described as 4 1/2 x 7 1/4 inches, fully bound in calf with "Rollin's History" and the volume number in gold lettering on the spines. Each book in the set is complete and legible, though all suffer from foxing, scattered in some, heavy in others. Text block edges are moderately soiled and the feps in each book contain a handwritten note indicating a school library among the previous owners, except for Vol. VII, where the note is upside down on the rear-end page. There are other occasional markings on feps but no pages with margin notes or heavy underlining. Some hinges have cracked, though all bindings remain quite firm. The leather-covered boards show some 160 years of wear on edges, corners and spine ends and show some scratching and staining but there are no detached covers, no major chipping or scarring, no need for extensive repairs. Laid-in to Vol. V is a folded, handwritten note in hard-to-read, faded ink, apparently personal in content, between two sisters. Overall, all eight volumes, scarce as a complete set, are certainly in quite decent, collectable condition. [Due to the size and weight of the set, we cannot accept priority/express orders or orders from outside the U.S. without additional postage.]