Eliot, Samuel. The Liberty of Rome: A History. With an Historical Account of the Liberty of Ancient Nations (2 volume set). New York & London: George P. Putnam | Richard Bentley, 1849. First Edition. [7851]
Two volumes in teal publisher's cloth, stamped in blind & gilt, 6 1/2 x 9 3/4 inches, gilt bright, light soil/wear, outer hinges fine. 1850 school merit gift inscription to ffep of each vol., faint embossed name stamp top of tps & prelim pages. xxviii., 526; xviii., 523 clean pp., with frontispieces and many full-page plates of fine quality (12 total). The plates were engraved by B. Bartoccini after drawings by Charles C. Perkins. LIght foxing to the frontispieces; closed tear to the rear free end paper of vol. ii. Very good. Hardcover.
Vol. I. - "Awarded to John D. Bates Jr. for Excelling in Latin Grammar & Latin Exercises during the Term ending Feb. 2d., 1850. D. B. T., Park School."
Vol. II. - "Awarded to John D. Bates Jr. for Excellency in Declamation, Composition, Drawing, & Map-drawing during the Term ending Feb. 2., 1850. D. B. T. Park School."
While traveling in Rome Eliot conceived the idea of writing a sweeping History of Liberty, beginning with ancient Greece and Rome, and continuing through early Christian ages, to the Reformation, and ending with American liberty. This massive work was never completed, and these two volumes contain the results of his initial researches. The set was rewritten and republished in 1853, reorganized into three volumes.
"The first installment of his contemplated History of Liberty appeared, in two handsome and substantial volumes under the title of The Liberty of Rome, published in New York and London. In the preface he claims that 'certain chapters in history, especially in ancient history, should be rewritten,' and he thereupon lays down the proposition that liberty is not to be judged merely 'according to the government of the people, but rather and chiefly according to the use they had made of their liberties.' What was ever the guiding principle of his life, his strong religious faith, shines forth pre-eminently as the mainspring of his efforts. 'History,' he says, 'is given us by God, but that it be made of any efficacy it must not only influence us in regard to the past, but console us with regard to the future. ...It is only through the Sympathy for all humanity which Christianity commands, and the faith in every work of God which Christianity sanctions, that we comprehend the particular events or the general character of history." - Haynes, Memoir of Samuel Eliot, LL.D. (1900).
Samuel Eliot (1821-1898), b. Boston, Massachusetts; d. Beverly Farms, Massachusetts. Eliot graduated first in his class at Harvard (1839), toured Europe (1841-45), and spent nearly ten years in historical writing upon his return. He became professor of history and political science at Trinity College, Hartford (1856), and was made college president (1860-64). He was an overseer at Harvard in the 1860's & 70's, as well as lecturer in history. He was headmaster of the Boston Girls High and Normal School (1872-76), and for many years superintendent of the Boston Public Schools. He served on the Boards of many associations, including the Massachusetts Bible Society, the Massachusetts Historical Society, the Museum of Fine Arts (Boston), the Boston Athenaeum, and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. (7851)