Bonhams 1793 : ARNOLD (THOMAS) Autograph letter signed, to Robert Baldwin, 1837

Autograph letter signed, to Robert Baldwin, of the publishers Baldwin & Cradock, Paternoster Row, London, discussing in considerable detail the typographic layout of his forthcoming History of Rome ("...I like the Specimen of Type which you have sent me very much, – but I am inclined to wish that if possible the Page might be made a little wider... I will add such Notices where I think them wanted. – Each separate Legend in the first Chapter I should wish to be printed as a separate Section, – with its Title in small Capitals at the Beginning, as it is in my M.S.S...."), one page, autograph address-leaf, seal-tear, minor damage at two corners otherwise in good condition, 4to, Rugby, 25 August 1837

Sold for £212 inc. premium

Footnotes

The first volume of Arnold's History of Rome was published in 1838, with a second appearing in 1840 and the third posthumously in 1843: 'The work was incomplete at his death and covers the early history of Rome to the end of the second Punic War... For Arnold history was a divine process, and the stages of a nation's life were cyclically determined, following laws of natural historical development. History, therefore, was ruled by law. It could thus be used analogically, and viewed philosophically rather than chronologically; it also taught moral lessons. Impartiality was impossible for a Christian historian' (A. J. H. Reeve, ODNB).

Category: Books / Books, Maps and Manuscripts

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