Gibbon and the 'Watchmen of the Holy City' : the historian and his reputation, 1776-1815 /

This text is an examination of the conflict between Gibbon and his critics, especially the spokemen for religious orthodoxy. It illuminates both the historian's career and personality and the prevailing conditions for authorship in England.

Bibliographic Details
Main Author:	Womersley, David
Corporate Author:	Oxford University Press
Format:	eBook
Language:	English
Language Notes:	English.
Published:	Oxford : Oxford ; New York : Clarendon Press ; Oxford University Press, 2002.
Subjects:	Gibbon, Edward, > 1737-1794 > Criticism and interpretation. Gibbon, Edward, > 1737-1794. > History of the decline and fall of the Roman Empire. Gibbon, Edward, > 1737-1794 History of the decline and fall of the Roman Empire (Gibbon, Edward) Historians > England > Biography. Rome > History > Empire, 284-476 > Historiography. Byzantine Empire > Historiography. England > Intellectual life > 18th century. Rome > Histoire > 284-476 (Bas-Empire) > Historiographie. Angleterre > Vie intellectuelle > 18e siècle. Historians Historiography Intellectual life Byzantine Empire England Rome (Empire) 284-1799 Electronic books. History Biographies Criticism, interpretation, etc. Biographies.
Online Access:	Connect to the full text of this electronic book

Table of Contents:

Revision and religion
Forging a polemical style : Gibbon's Vindication and literary warfare, 1694-1779
'Too deeply into the mud of the Arian controversy' : Gibbon and the early church fathers
'Enthusiasm and imposture' : Gibbon and Mahomet
Gibbon's unfinished history
The 'memoirs' : autobiography in a time of revolution
'As common as any the most vulgar thing to sense' : three versions of the death of a father
'Fourteen months, the most barren and unprofitable of my whole life' : five versions of residence in Oxford
The making of Gibbon's Miscellaneous works
Conclusions
Appendices : 1. The two drafts of Sheffield's unpublished note on chapters fifteen and sixteen
2. Gibbon's 'Memoirs of my life' : drarfts, correspondence, and context
3. John Baker Holroyd, 1st Earl of Sheffield (1735-1821) : a bibliography
4. The three versions of the death of Edward Gibbon Senior
5. Residence in Oxford and conversion to Catholicism : MSS B, C, D, and E
6. Residence in Oxford and conversion to Catholicism : MS F and MW 1796
7. Editing Gibbon's Miscellaneous works : texts and contexts.