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1GlennM
I have a mint condition complete (6-vol) set of EP's Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire. I am interested in either selling it outright or swapping it with books of equal value. For the swap, I am only interested in doing it in person, so the party would have to be in the Philadelphia metro area.
2dekesolomon
Whose translation is it, and how much do you want for it?
3Django6924
Translation?
5dekesolomon
It was a joke, fellers. I meant to imply that Gibbon's prose is unreadable and frequently soporific.
7dekesolomon
> 6 -- Yep. It's my considered opinion. I presently have the Penguin edition (hardcover, 3-volume set) that I got from History Book Club 20 years ago. When I got it, I immediately sat down and read Volume 1 -- it took me about a week, as I recall. I was still at grad school at the time, between terms, and burned up my entire break with that one book.
What I got from it is that Gibbon was a great historian who knew the Roman Empire inside out. His writing (to me) seems turgid for the most part, saved from ignominy by being speckled with those pithy understatements that Britons still (and probably always will) use so effectively.
Old as Gibbon's work is, dense as his prose may be, it still stands head-and-shoulders above the likes of Carlyle (French Revolution) and Mommsen (Provinces of the Roman Empire). I will finish the other two Gibbon volumes before I die, though I wish I didn't feel the need to do so.
Final note: "Unreadable" was probably the wrong word to use. Change that to "almost insufferable" and that's closer to the mark.
What I got from it is that Gibbon was a great historian who knew the Roman Empire inside out. His writing (to me) seems turgid for the most part, saved from ignominy by being speckled with those pithy understatements that Britons still (and probably always will) use so effectively.
Old as Gibbon's work is, dense as his prose may be, it still stands head-and-shoulders above the likes of Carlyle (French Revolution) and Mommsen (Provinces of the Roman Empire). I will finish the other two Gibbon volumes before I die, though I wish I didn't feel the need to do so.
Final note: "Unreadable" was probably the wrong word to use. Change that to "almost insufferable" and that's closer to the mark.
9dekesolomon
> 8 -- If you're talking to me you'll have to be more explicit.
10iluvbeckett
>9 dekesolomon:: I think he means that one week was a pretty quick read for Vol. 1 :-/
12dekesolomon
> 10 -- OK, then. I don't mean to brag or to embarrass anybody. If it makes anyone feel better about this, I'll say "it took me about 2 weeks, as I recall." What I really remember is that (as I ALSO said in > 7), the job used up my entire Christmas term break.
My interest in the EP version is that it's six volumes (smaller chunks), and EP will look better on the shelf than those three Penguin boat anchors.
My interest in the EP version is that it's six volumes (smaller chunks), and EP will look better on the shelf than those three Penguin boat anchors.
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