7 vols., large 8vo. Profusely illustrated throught. The 2500 engravings and 100 maps and plans mentioned on the title include full page chromolithograph and b/w wood engraved plates and numerous illustrations in the text itself. Contemporary quarter-calf over marbled boards, slightly rubbed.
The son of a factory worker, Duruy rose to become Napoleon III’s minister of education. He first published his Roman History in the 1840s, but this fully revised and magnificently illustrated edition prepared after his retirement from politics is a different book altogether, described by Britannica (11th ed) as “a really great work”.
