The Mediterranean, by BRAUDEL, Fernand - 1972-73: and the Mediterranean World in the Age of Philip II. Translated from the French by Siân Reynolds.

London: Collins, 1972-73. First edition in English, handsomely bound. First published in France under the title La Méditerranée et le Monde Méditerranéen à l'Époque de Philippe II (1949), this English version of The Mediterranean corresponds to the second French edition of 1966. The first draft of La Méditerranée was written during Braudel's five years in a German POW camp, with no access to his notes, and only his memory and the resources of a limited local library to facilitate his work. When the war ended, he had established himself as the leader of the second generation of the Annales School, and finally published La Méditerranée 11 years after its conception. Described in the New York Times as "probably the most significant historical work to appear since World War II", Braudel's history is "one of the great contemporary adventures of humanist imagination" (ibid). 2 volumes, octavo (236 x 154 mm). Finely bound by Bayntun Riviere (Bath) in blue morocco, titles and ship motifs gilt to spines, gilt compartments and raised bands tooled in gilt, gilt borders with ship cornerpieces to covers, gilt Grecian vase motif to fronts, board edges and turn-ins tooled in gilt, marbled endpapers, edges gilt. Loosely inserted is a paper Bayntun bookmark, a newspaper clipping of Fernand Braudel's obituary from The Times 30th November 1985, and a single blank sheet of Carlton Hotel letterhead. With black and white illustrations throughout. Spines sunned, else a very good set indeed. The Mediterranean, Review, Richard Andrews, The New York Times, May 18 1975, available online.