Edward Gibbon was one of the world's greatest historians and a towering figure of his age. When he died in 1794 he left behind the unfinished drafts of his memoirs, which were posthumously edited by his friend Lord Sheffield. Recounting Gibbon's sickly childhood in London, he distils his genius for history into a remarkable gift for autobiography.
Edward Gibbon was one of the world's greatest historians and a towering figure of his age. When he died in 1794 he left behind the unfinished drafts o...
On the death of Edward Gibbon (1737 94), his unpublished papers were left to his friend John Baker Holroyd, first earl of Sheffield, who published them in two volumes in 1796. Gibbon had written six manuscript accounts of his own life, and, according to Sheffield, had always intended to publish his autobiography in his lifetime. The memoir as edited by Sheffield begins with Gibbon's family history, and taking in his education, travels, and career as a historian, finishes with his anxiety over the future of Europe in 1788. Sheffield then continues the story until Gibbon's death through his...
On the death of Edward Gibbon (1737 94), his unpublished papers were left to his friend John Baker Holroyd, first earl of Sheffield, who published the...
