the decline and fall of the roman empire by edward gibbon

He was ill-suited, however, to the college atmosphere, and later rued his 14 months there as the 'most idle and unprofitable' of his life. Career Oxford, Lausanne, and a religious journey: 1752–1758 įollowing a stay at Bath in 1752 to improve his health, at the age of 15, Gibbon was sent by his father to Magdalen College, Oxford, where he was enrolled as a gentleman-commoner. By 1751, Gibbon's reading was already extensive and certainly pointed toward his future pursuits: Laurence Echard's Roman History (1713), William Howel(l)'s An Institution of General History (1680–85), and several of the 65 volumes of the acclaimed Universal History from the Earliest Account of Time (1747–1768). From 1747 Gibbon spent time at the family home in Buriton. Soon after she died in 1786, he remembered her as rescuing him from his mother's disdain, and imparting 'the first rudiments of knowledge, the first exercise of reason, and a taste for books which is still the pleasure and glory of my life'. He then took up residence in the Westminster School boarding house, owned by his adored 'Aunt Kitty', Catherine Porten. Woddeson's school at Kingston upon Thames (now Kingston Grammar School), shortly after which his mother died. He described himself as 'a puny child, neglected by my Mother, starved by my nurse'. Īs a youth, Gibbon's health was under constant threat. His paternal grandmother, Catherine Acton, was granddaughter of Sir Walter Acton, 2nd Baronet. Gibbon's father was thus able to inherit a substantial estate. His grandfather, also named Edward, had lost his assets as a result of the South Sea bubble stock-market collapse in 1720 but eventually regained much of his wealth. He had six siblings, five brothers and one sister, all of whom died in infancy. Early life: 1737–1752 Įdward Gibbon was born in 1737, the son of Edward and Judith Gibbon at Lime Grove, in the town of Putney, Surrey.

His most important work, The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, published in six volumes between 17, is known for the quality and irony of its prose, its use of primary sources, and its polemical criticism of organised religion. Edward Gibbon FRS ( / ˈ ɡ ɪ b ən/ – 16 January 1794) was an English essayist, historian, and politician.

The decline and fall of the roman empire by edward gibbon