PBA Galleries

3 volumes. [iv], xxv, [1], 557; [xv], [1], 581; [xxiii], [1], 603, [1], [21] pp. Engraved portrait frontispiece in Volume 1; numerous engraved head- and tail-pieces, intitial letters, etc. by M. Burghers. (Folio) 15¼x9½, contemporary calfed backed marbled boards.

Clarendon began his work in April, 1641, and finished during the period of his exile (1667-1674). It is considered to be the "most valuable of all the contemporary accounts of the civil wars" - Dictionary of National Biography. "Printed under the supervision of Clarendon's son, it remains a classic work. It is also an important contribution to the art of biography and autobiography, and memorable for its portraits of figures as varied as Falkland, Godolphin, Laud, and Strafford" - Oxford Companion to English Literature, p.202.