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The Complete Works of WILLIAM ROBERTSON! With The Author's Last Emendations and Additions. To which is prefixed an account of the life and writings of the author. Complete in 8 volumes. Printed in 1811-1812. With the original 3 fold-out maps. FIRST AMERICAN EDITION! First American Edition of Robertson's History Of America, and History of Virginia. This is a RARE & important set. Still bound in the original leather bindings. Complete in 8 volumes. Includes all of his works. Including The History Of America. Being The First American Edition of his American History. Printed in 1811-1812. This set is Over 200 YEARS OLD!! First American Edition of History of Amerca and History of Virginia, as stated on the title pages (except Charles V which is the Second Edition). Each subset is complete in itself, together forming all of Robertson's works, complete in 8 volumes. Titles: Volumes 1 and 2 being: The History of Scotland During The Reigns of Queen Mary and of King James VI Until His Accession To The Crown of England; With A Review Of The Scottish History Previous To That Period. Volumes 3, 4, and 5 being: A History Of The Reign Of The Emperor Charles V; With A View Of The Progress Of Society In Europe; From The Subversion Of The Roman Empire To The Beginning Of The Sixteenth Century; Second American Edition; printed in 1812. Volumes 6 and 7 being: A History of America; First American Edition In Which Is Included The Posthumous Volume Containing The History Of Virginia, To The Year 1688; And of New England, to The Year 1652 Volume 8 being: An Historical Disquisition Concerning The Knowledge Which The Ancients Had Of India; And The Progress Of The Trade With That Country Prior To The Discovery Of The Passage To It By The Cape Of Good Hope. Frontisplates in most volumes, as issued. 3 fold-out maps. Printed on quality paper. Some volumes have Publisher's marginal notes. These are the original 200 year old bindings. These are the original full leather bindings. Full leather bindings were more expensive to produce, and are highly desirable! Gilded spines with red leather label. These measure 8 3/4 inches tall. Philadelphia, 1811 - 1812. First American Edition. In excellent condition. The leather is still supple and fresh, but with some wear and some chips, as shown. All the hinges are strongly attached and held firmly by the underlying cords, although there is some starting along the hinges. Printed on quality paper, there is some foxing and general age and usage wear. No writing. there is a surface gouge in the lower spine of volume one, chips on heads of other volumes, as shown. This is a gorgeous set! A durable set having been printed on quality materials. This set will last many more centuries if properly stored. This would make an excellent gift and/or addition to any fine library. In addition to their shelf presence, Rare & Antiquarian Books make a great investment. All books are individually wrapped and professionally padded. This set is complete in 8 volumes. These are the original bindings. Of the three great British historians of the 18th century two were Scotsmen. The exact place of Robertson with regard to his two friends Hume and Gibbon, and to such historians as the rest of Europe had to offer, presents a question of some nicety, because it is complicated by extraneous considerations, so to speak, which should not weigh in an abstract estimate, but cannot be excluded in a concrete and practical one. If we regard only Robertson's potential historic power, the question is not so much whether he was equal to either of his two friends as whether he was not superior to both. The man who wrote the review of the state of Europe prefixed to the History of Charles V. , or even the first book of the History of Scotland , showed that he had a wider and more synthetic conception of history than either the author of the Decline and Fall or the author of the History of England . These two portions of Robertson's work, with all their shortcomings in the eye of modern criticism, have a distinctive value which time cannot take away. He was one of the first to see the importance of general ideas in history. He saw that the immediate narrative of events with which he was occupied needed a background of broad and connected generalizations, referring to the social state of which the detailed history formed a part. But he did more than this. In the appendix to the view of Europe called "Proofs and Illustrations" he enters into the difficult and obscure question of land tenure in Frankish times, and of the origin of the feudal system, with a sagacity and knowledge which distinctly advanced the comprehension of this period beyond the point at which it had been left by Du Bos, Montesquieu and Mably. He was well acquainted with the original documents, -- many of them, we may conjecture, not easy to procure in Scotland. It must have been a genuine aptitude for historical research of a scientific kind which led Robertson to undertake the labor of these austere disquisitions of which there were not many in his day who saw the importance. Gibbon, so superior to him for wide reading and scholarship, has pointedly avoided them. Robertson's views are now out of date. But he deserves the honor of a pioneer in one of the most obscure if also important lines of inquiry connected with European history. On the other hand, it must be admitted that he showed himself only too tame a follower of Voltaire in his general appreciation of the middle ages, which he regarded with the mingled ignorance and prejudice common in the 18th century. In this particular he was not at all in advance of his age. item#1994 William Robertson (historian) From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Jump to navigation Jump to search This article is about the Scottish historian. For other people of the same name, see William Robertson (disambiguation) . William Robertson FRSE FSA Scot William Robertson (1721-93) Born 19 September 1721 Borthwick , Midlothian , Died 11 June 1793 (aged 71) Edinburgh Nationality Scottish Education Dalkeith Grammar School Alma mater University of Edinburgh Known for Principal of the University of Edinburgh ; Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland ; Historiographer Royal The mausoleum of William Robertson, Greyfriars Kirkyard William Robertson FRSE FSA Scot (19 September 1721 – 11 June 1793) was a Scottish historian, minister in the Church of Scotland , and Principal of the University of Edinburgh . "The thirty years during which [he] presided over the University perhaps represent the highest point in its history." [1] He made significant contributions to the writing of Scottish history and the history of Spain and Spanish America. [2] He was Chaplain of Stirling Castle and one of the King's Chaplains in Scotland . Contents 1 Early life 2 Career 3 Writings 4 Later life 5 Legacy 6 Family 7 Publications 8 References 9 Further reading 10 External links Robertson was born at the manse of Borthwick , Midlothian , the son of Robertson, the local minister. [3] He was educated at Borthwick Parish School and Dalkeith Grammar School . He was the son of William Robertson and his wife Eleanor Pitcairn. The family moved to Edinburgh when his father became appointed minister of Old Greyfriars Kirk . He studied divinity at Edinburgh University (1733–41), and was licensed to preach in 1741. He was granted a Doctor of Divinity in 1759. [4] The educationalist and writer James Burgh , who founded a dissenting academy on the outskirts of London, was his cousin, describing him as his "much esteemed friend and relation". [5] He became minister at Gladsmuir ( East Lothian ) in 1743 and in 1759 at Lady Yester's Kirk and Greyfriars Kirk in Edinburgh . A staunch Presbyterian and Whig , he volunteered to defend the city against the Jacobites led by Prince Charles Edward Stuart in 1745. In 1754 he was an original member of The Select Society , also referred to as the Edinburgh Select Society. [6] A bust of William Robertson, which sits in the 17th-century King James Library at the University of St Andrews Cameo of Rev. William Robertson (1721-93), 1791, Scottish National Portrait Gallery Robertson became royal chaplain to George III (1761), principal of the University of Edinburgh (1762), Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland in 1763, and Historiographer Royal in 1764, reviving a role within the Royal household in Scotland that had been in abeyance from 1709 until 1763. He was also a member of The Poker Club . [7] One of his most notable works is his History of Scotland 1542–1603 , begun in 1753 and first published in 1759. [8] Robertson also contributed, not always fortunately [9] , to the history of Spain and Spanish America in his History of America (1777), "the first sustained attempt to describe the discovery, conquest and settlement of Spanish America since Herrera's Décadas [10] and his biography of Charles V . In that work he had "provided a masterly survey of the progress of European society, in which he traced the erosion of the 'feudal system' caused by the rise of free towns, the revival of learning and Roman law, and by the emergence of royal authority and the balance of power between states. It was the development of commerce, assisted by law and private property, which was held to be chiefly responsible for the advance in civilisation." [11] He was a significant figure in the Scottish Enlightenment and also of the moderates in the Church of Scotland . [12] In 1783 he was a founding member of the Royal Society of Edinburgh . He died of jaundice [13] on 11 June 1793, at Grange House in south Edinburgh (the huge now-demolished mansion which gave its name to the Grange district . [14] Robertson is buried at Greyfriars Kirkyard , Edinburgh . The grave is within a very large stone mausoleum. second only to William Adam 's mausoleum immediately to the south. Both stand to the south-west of the church, near the entrance to the Covenanters Prison. He gives his name to the William Robertson Building of the Old Medical School buildings at the University of Edinburgh on Teviot Place, home to the School of History, Classics and Archaeology . Robertson married his cousin Mary Nisbet in 1751. They had three sons, all of whom are buried in Greyfriars Kirkyard in individual plots behind their father's mausoleum: Hon William Robertson, Lord Robertson FRSE , Senator of the College of Justice (1753–1835) General James Robertson (died 1845) Lt Col David Robertson MacDonald of Kinlochmoidart FRSE (1761–1845) an important figure in the history of Ceylon One of his daughters, Mary, married the author Patrick Brydone FRSE . [15] In 1778 another daughter, Eleanora (or Eleanor) Robertson, married John Russell WS FRSE (1753-1792), a Director of the Royal Bank of Scotland . Their children included John Russell WS FRSE (1780-1862), Principal Clerk of Session. [16] He was great uncle to Dr William Robertson FRSE (1818-1882). The Situation of the World at the Time of Christ's Appearance (sermon) (1755) The History of Scotland 1542-1603 (1759) (3 vols.) History of the Reign of the Emperor Charles V, with a View of the Progress of Society in Europe (1769) (4 vols.) The History of America (1777, 1796) (3 vols.) An Historical Disquisition Concerning the Knowledge Which the Ancients Had of India (1791)