Tan leather binding with red and black title plates, gilt banding decoration and lettering on the spine. Measurements are for one volume.

F.B.A. provides an in-depth photographic presentation of this item to stimulate your feel and touch. More traditional book descriptions are immediately available

^{As seen this is a very fine set.}

When travelling in France in 1814 he conceived the idea of his expansive History of Europe from the commencement of the French revolution to the restoration of the Bourbons. This multi-volume set is usually regarded as Alison’s chief historical work and is considered to be the first scholarly English-language study of the French Revolution. Published in ten volumes between 1833 and 1843, History of Europe was revised and reprinted many times throughout the century,  including numerous foreign language editions.  The work is one of vast industry, “contain[ing] a wealth of information communicated in a vigorous though wordy style.”

Disraeli satirises the author in Coningsby as Mr. Wordy, who wrote a history to prove that Providence was on the side of the Tories. Such criticism notwithstanding, History of Europe proved to be a huge commercial success.  By 1848 100,000 copies had been sold in the United States. It was translated into French, German, and even Arabic, in which language 2,000 copies were published “under the auspices of the Pasha of Egypt.”  Alison’s book collection grew exponentially while he wrote the History as he acquired more and more source material over the years. By the 1840s, the author’s collection had grown into an enormous library worth, in his estimation, £4,000 — a massive sum for that period.  Alison evidently “feared that ‘one of the race of critics’ would discover an obscure book, pronounce it indispensable, and charge him with neglecting it.”

Alison also composed a comprehensive survey of the military campaigns of the Duke of Marlborough, as well as two standard works on the criminal law of Scotland.

Sir Archibald Alison, 1st Baronet, FRSE (29 December 1792 – 23 May 1867) was an England-born Scottish advocate (barrister) and historian. He held several prominent legal appointments. He was the younger son of the Episcopalian cleric and author Archibald Alison. His elder brother was the physician and social reformer William Alison.