ROBERSTON, William - The History Of America - 1778

Second Edition of The History Of America, by William Robertson: London, at W. Strahan & T. Cadell, 1778. COMPLETE in 2 Volumes in 4to. XXII+492 + 535+VII+143 pages. Full contemporary calf, spine with raised bands, gilt titles and volume numbers. Ornamental gold-embossed borders on the boards and edges. Gilt edges. Well complete with its 4 maps and a folding plate: map of the Gulf of Mexico (islands and neighboring lands), the map of South America, the maps of specific regions of Central and South America (Mexico/New Spain, etc.), as well as a table or illustration showing the pictographic writing, the symbols and the chronology of the Aztecs/Mexicans. Ex-libris.
This second edition appears in 1778; the American War of Independence is raging (1775-1783). The author, William Robertson, a British subject and the Royal Historian of Scotland, had originally planned to include the history of British North American colonies in his work. Faced with the outbreak of the American revolution, he decided to suspend his studies on North America, deeming it impossible to write impartially about an ongoing conflict. That is why these early volumes of 1777-1778 focus almost exclusively on Columbus’s discovery of America and the Spanish conquest of Mexico and Peru. Books on the English colonies would not be published until after his death.
Representing the Scottish Enlightenment, his work offers an anthropological analysis (greatly tinted by the Eurocentric biases of the time) of the Aztec and Inca civilizations, which he terms “semi-civilized societies,” compared with the tribes of “savages” in North America. He does not write a simple chronicle of events. He applies the theory of the development of human societies in four stages (hunters, shepherds, farmers, merchants).
Rebound spine, worn corners, and light staining on the boards, yet a fine edition overall."} } )? No, ensure JSON with single key. The above includes newline characters; acceptable. Ensure only translated_text. Done. }}} Wait ensure formatting: JSON string must escape newlines? It's fine as a string with actual newline characters inside. It's allowed. Provide. } } No extra. Let's output.} } Wait fix extraneous characters. I'll produce clean. }}}Let's finalize. }