Howell - State of England - 1742

From Julius Caesar to George II: Seventeen Hundred Years of English History in Pictures
ABSTRACT
Fascinating illustrated tenth edition, London 1742, of the famous history of England by William Howell, updated to the end of 1740. From Roman Britain and the Saxon invasions to the Norman monarchy, from the Plantagenets to the Tudors and the Stuarts, up to George II. The work is enriched by a rich apparatus of engravings depicting battles, coronations, assassinations, martyrdoms and major episodes of English history.
Among the most spectacular scenes are Richard the Lionheart in the Holy Land, the murder of the Princes in the Tower and the defeat of the Invincible Armada. Curious eighteenth-century specimen preserved in its original binding, though heavily worn, with the rare typographic title page printed in red and black.

WHY TO BUY
HISTORY OF ENGLAND IN ILLUSTRATIONS – A compendium traversing British history from Julius Caesar’s era to 1740, built around the succession of English sovereigns.
TENTH EDITION OF 1742 – The title page expressly states “The Tenth Edition illustrated with Sculptures,” with continuation of the narrative to the end of 1740.
RICH ILLUSTRATED ICONOGRAPHIC APPARATUS – Numerous engravings transform the dynastic succession into a spectacular visual chronicle of battles, royal deaths, martyrdoms, plots and coronations.
FAMOUS EPISODES OF ENGLISH HISTORY – Richard I against the Saracens, Edward II, the Crécy victory, Richard III and the Princes in the Tower, religious persecutions and the Armada of 1588 are only some of the scenes illustrated.

MARKET VALUE
The most interesting component of the edition is the extensive suite of engravings, which makes it far more attractive than a normal eighteenth-century historical compendium. The tenth edition of 1742 and the red-and-black title page are additional positive elements. However, the binding’s condition and especially the title page substantially penalize the value: the front board appears missing and replaced/protected by the title page itself displayed externally, showing significant losses and marginal tears. For a complete copy of the illustration apparatus but in the shown conditions, I would prudently estimate an antique value in the range of €300–600. A copy intact in binding and with a well-preserved title page would have a significantly higher value.

PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION AND CONDITION
Eighteenth-century full leather binding, spine with raised bands, title “HISTORY OF ENGLAND” and floral gilt decorations. Binding in heavily worn condition: widespread abrasions, leather losses, damaged headcaps, damaged joints and significant spine wear. The front board is missing; the title page, heavily worn and with tears and marginal losses, is exposed on the exterior of the volume. Typographic title page printed in red and black. English text predominantly set in two columns. Paper with some natural browning, stains, small tears and signs of use; some marginal repairs or reinforcements visible. In old books with a long history, a few imperfections may be present, not always noted in the description. This listing contains AI Visualizations. Refer to the original photographs to verify the object’s actual condition. Images are an integral part of the description. Pp. 12nn; 648; 20nn; (4).

FULL TITLE AND AUTHOR
The Ancient and Present State of England.
London, printed for D. Midwinter, W. Innys, A. Ward, J. and P. Knapton, S. Birt, T. Longman, D. Browne, C. Hitch, J. Hodges, and J. Rivington, 1742.
William Howell.

CONTEXT AND SIGNIFICANCE
Medulla Historiæ Anglicanæ – literally “the marrow,” i.e., the essence or compendium, of English history – was conceived as a concise history of the British monarchy intended for a much broader audience than that of specialists. The narrative begins with ancient Britain and the Roman conquest, traverses the Saxon period and the Norman conquest, and then follows the succession of medieval and modern monarchs up to the early eighteenth century. The organization by sovereigns allows one to traverse some of the most famous episodes of Britain’s historical imagination. The photographed engravings show how much the publisher relied on the narrative power of images: William Rufus killed during a hunting excursion, Richard the Lionheart fighting in the Holy Land, campaigns of the Hundred Years’ War, the Crécy victory and the murder of the young princes Edward V and Richard of York in the Tower of London. Of particular significance is the Tudor portion. A plate associates religious persecutions with the depiction of the defeat of the Spanish Armada of 1588, a central episode in the eighteenth-century construction of Protestant English national memory. The iconographic apparatus therefore does not serve a purely decorative function: it builds a true visual history of England, selecting episodes considered memorable, exemplary or dramatic for a British reader of the eighteenth century.

BRIEF BIOGRAPHY OF THE AUTHOR
William Howell (1631/32–1683) was an English historian active in the seventeenth century, remembered mainly for historical works and compendia aimed at making the events of England and world history accessible to a relatively wide audience. The editorial fortune of Medulla Historiæ Anglicanæ largely outlived the author. After his death the text was continued by other compilers, as explicitly stated in subsequent editions. The present edition indeed attributes the core of the work to the “Dr. Howell,” noting that the history has been “continued by an Impartial Hand to the End of the Year 1740”: a typical eighteenth-century publishing formula to indicate the updating of a long-established historical work.

PRINTING HISTORY AND CIRCULATION
Medulla Historiæ Anglicanæ enjoyed considerable editorial success from the late seventeenth to the early eighteenth century, as shown by reaching the tenth edition in 1742. This London issue proclaims on the title page to be “The Tenth Edition illustrated with Sculptures” and updates the narrative to the end of 1740. The final part indeed reaches the reign of George II and ends at p. 647. The editorial notice explicitly emphasizes the addition of the “Sculptures,” intended to illustrate the history, together with a royal genealogical table and the succession to the Crown. Illustration thus constituted one of the explicit commercial arguments of the edition. The long sequence of reprints testifies to the success of the format: a compact national history, organized chronologically, easily consultable and enriched by images capable of turning the most famous episodes into instantly recognizable scenes.

BIBLIOGRAPHY AND REFERENCES
ESTC – English Short Title Catalogue, a fundamental repertoire of British editions printed before 1801.
British Library, catalogs of eighteenth-century editions of William Howell and of Medulla Historiæ Anglicanæ.
Bodleian Libraries, University of Oxford, catalogs of English histories of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.
Jisc Library Hub Discover, census of copies held in British libraries.
WorldCat, bibliographic records of the different editions of Medulla Historiæ Anglicanæ.
English Short Title Catalogue and repertories of London book production in the eighteenth century.
Bibliographic repertoires on English historiography and the diffusion of illustrated histories in eighteenth-century British publishing.