Book Details

Author: Howell, William:

Title: An Institution of General History, from the beginning of the World to the Monarchy of Constantine the Great. Composed in such Method and manner as never yet was extant.

Publication: London: Henry Herringman, 1661.

Description: First edition. Folio, pp.viii, 881, [iii]. Woodcut initials and headpieces; at rear, errata and two-page publisher's catalogue. Very lightly toned, occasional small mark or light ink blot. 2E with small piece lost at top corner, 2S closed tear to top corner, 3F3 a little short at fore-edge margin, none of which affecting text. Tiny scorch hole to 3S affecting a couple of letters. Contemporary calf neatly rebacked. Gilt spine, raised bands title label, plain blind-tooled borders, edges red. Scuffed, a few marks, corners worn, structural vellum flap visible between board and ffep, a few tiny codes and sums in various hands to endpapers, top corner of rear free endpaper lost, very good. To front pastedown, armorial bookplate of Sir Lister Holte, 5th Baronet (1720-1770). A landowner in Warwickshire and MP for Lichfield from 1741 to 1747, Holte was also High Sheriff of Cheshire. To head of title-page, ownership inscription of Robert Holt in an old hand.

First edition of the major work of historian and civil lawyer William Howell (1631/2-1683), it was reissued the following year with a different title-page and a table added at the end. 'Howell was a substantial but under-appreciated historical writer of the Restoration, in the tradition of world history writing that included Sir Walter Ralegh's History of the World (1614), then the most popular work of its kind in English, but which ended before the birth of Christ. Howell's most widely read work, which clearly borrows from Ralegh, was An institution of general history ? from the beginning of the world till the monarchy of Constantine the Great. This first appeared in 1661 and then in several subsequent editions. He abridged it into Latin as Gulielmi Hoeli, LL.D. Elementa historiae for the use of Mulgrave and other young men in 1671 [...]. Howell had always intended to publish a second part of the Institution, covering western and eastern Christendom after Constantine, and refers to this second part in his Elementa. It was unpublished at Howell's death in 1683, but in 1685 his widow, Mary, had it published, complete with her own dedicatory epistle to James II. [?] Borrowing from Reformation chronological writing, Howell organized his book according to the principle of synchronism, making it easy for a reader following his account of one kingdom or empire to grasp contemporary events that occurred elsewhere. Howell'sInstitution was perhaps the most readily accessible history of the world published in the Restoration, appealing to a growing readership for comprehensive histories that provided a straightforward summary of events since the creation. [?] (Woolf, ODNB)

Bibliography: ESTC R14308; Wing H3136.

Reference Number: [55083]

Price: £500

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	Author: Howell, William: Title: An Institution of General History, from the beginning of the World to the Monarchy of Constantine the Great. Composed in such Method and manner as never yet was extant. Publication: London: Henry Herringman, 1661. Description: First edition. Folio, pp.viii, 881, [iii]. Woodcut initials and headpieces; at rear, errata and two-page publisher's catalogue. Very lightly toned, occasional small mark or light ink blot. 2E with small piece lost at top corner, 2S closed tear to top corner, 3F3 a little short at fore-edge margin, none of which affecting text. Tiny scorch hole to 3S affecting a couple of letters. Contemporary calf neatly rebacked. Gilt spine, raised bands title label, plain blind-tooled borders, edges red. Scuffed, a few marks, corners worn, structural vellum flap visible between board and ffep, a few tiny codes and sums in various hands to endpapers, top corner of rear free endpaper lost, very good. To front pastedown, armorial bookplate of Sir Lister Holte, 5th Baronet (1720-1770). A landowner in Warwickshire and MP for Lichfield from 1741 to 1747, Holte was also High Sheriff of Cheshire. To head of title-page, ownership inscription of Robert Holt in an old hand. First edition of the major work of historian and civil lawyer William Howell (1631/2-1683), it was reissued the following year with a different title-page and a table added at the end. 'Howell was a substantial but under-appreciated historical writer of the Restoration, in the tradition of world history writing that included Sir Walter Ralegh's History of the World (1614), then the most popular work of its kind in English, but which ended before the birth of Christ. Howell's most widely read work, which clearly borrows from Ralegh, was An institution of general history ? from the beginning of the world till the monarchy of Constantine the Great. This first appeared in 1661 and then in several subsequent editions. He abridged it into Latin as Gulielmi Hoeli, LL.D. Elementa historiae for the use of Mulgrave and other young men in 1671 [...]. Howell had always intended to publish a second part of the Institution, covering western and eastern Christendom after Constantine, and refers to this second part in his Elementa. It was unpublished at Howell's death in 1683, but in 1685 his widow, Mary, had it published, complete with her own dedicatory epistle to James II. [?] Borrowing from Reformation chronological writing, Howell organized his book according to the principle of synchronism, making it easy for a reader following his account of one kingdom or empire to grasp contemporary events that occurred elsewhere. Howell'sInstitution was perhaps the most readily accessible history of the world published in the Restoration, appealing to a growing readership for comprehensive histories that provided a straightforward summary of events since the creation. [?] (Woolf, ODNB) Bibliography: ESTC R14308; Wing H3136. Reference Number: [55083] Price: £500 enquire << Back
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