“STIRRING EVENTS AND THRILLING SCENES”

PRESCOTT, William. Works. Philadelphia: J. B. Lippincott, 1904. Twenty-one volumes. Octavo, contemporary three-quarter brown morocco gilt, raised bands, marbled boards and endpapers, top edges gilt, uncut and partially unopened. $2800.

Limited “Montezuma Edition” of Prescott’s works, number 679 of 1000 copies, with engraved frontispieces.

"History for Prescott was primarily a form of polite literature, written quite as much for the entertainment as for the instruction of his readers; it was, therefore, in the recounting of stirring events and thrilling scenes that he took pleasure and excelled." His works on Spain's Golden Age and role in the New World today remain standard authorities and reflect "the scrupulous care and integrity with which he used his materials, and the pains he took to find the exact truth" (DAB). The Montezuma edition contains The History of the Conquest of Mexico, The History of the Conquest of Peru, History of the Reign of Ferdinand and Isabella, History of the Reign of Charles the Fifth, History of the Reign of Philip the Second, and Biographical and Critical Miscellanies. Without Volume XXII, The Life of Prescott by George Ticknor.

A most handsome set in fine condition.