Red cloth binding with gilt title on the spine. Rear hinge repaired.

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For conditions, please view our photographs. This book is considered a significant primary source for understanding this period of English history. Namely, the restoration of King Charles II in 1660 up to the early 18th century. It includes Burnet’s own experiences and observations.

Burnet began Bishop Burnet’s History of His Own Time in 1683, covering the English Civil War and the Commonwealth of England to the Treaty of Utrecht of 1713. The first volume was published in 1724, ending before the Glorious Revolution. In 1734 the second volume was published, taking the History to the Treaty of Utrecht. A critical edition in six volumes with numerous footnotes was edited by Martin Routh and published by Oxford University Press in 1823 (updated 1833). The work gives a sketch of the history of the Civil Wars and Commonwealth, and a detailed account of the immediately succeeding period down to 1713. While not free from egotism and some party feeling, it is written with a sincere desire for accuracy and fairness, and it has largely the authority of an eyewitness. The style, if somewhat lacking in dignity, is lively and picturesque. James Ralph’s The History of England, During the Reign of King William, Queen Anne, and King George I (1744–46) later criticised Burnet’s anecdotal style, corrected specific factual errors, and faulted his omissions. A supplemental biography of Burnet, titled A Supplement to Burnet’s History of my Own Time and edited by H. C. Foxcroft and T. E. S. Clarke, was published in 1902.

Publisher: J. M. Dent & Co. was known for publishing classic literature, often in affordable series like the famous Everyman’s Library rather than the original first edition of the 18th century.

Gilbert Burnet (18 September 1643 – 17 March 1715) was a Scottish philosopher and historian, and Bishop of Salisbury. He was fluent in Dutch, French, Latin, Greek, and Hebrew. Burnet was highly respected as a cleric, a preacher, an academic, a writer and a historian. He was always closely associated with the Whig party, and was one of the few close friends in whom King William III confided.