Found 1857 edition of Edward Gibbon's The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire (ebook, classic)

[josiah510]

I just aquired the 1857 edition of Edward Gibbon's classic for $12 US. All six volumes are in good shape for being 150 years old.
I searched all over the internet for information about these volumes and couldn't find anything on this edition of his work. I was wondering how rare are these editions and what is the going price for these works. Not that I'm interested in selling them, just a curosity of their value and thus a more inclination to take care of them. I definitly know I got my money worth, but how much?
Thanks.

[laysayfair]

Originally Posted by josiah510

I just aquired the 1857 edition of Edward Gibbon's classic for $12 US. All six volumes are in good shape for being 150 years old.
I searched all over the internet for information about these volumes and couldn't find anything on this edition of his work. I was wondering how rare are these editions and what is the going price for these works. Not that I'm interested in selling them, just a curosity of their value and thus a more inclination to take care of them. I definitly know I got my money worth, but how much?
Thanks.

Look them up on Amazon.com and see what they are selling for.

[ontheroad]

If you have a second hand dealer that specialises in antiquarian books, they might be better than anyone else.

Enjoy the volumes!

[furyu]

Check out AbeBooks.com. They list various editions of this title, and have a lot of them for sale.

I did a quick search on it, entering a publishing date range of 1850 to 1860, and came up with 54 hits. Many of these hits were for individual volumes but others listed all six volumes. The price range went from $7.50 for Volume 3, to $1,250 for all six volumes published in 1853 by H. B. Bohn, London (leather binding). Apparently, this was the first edition.

I didn't see any stating a publishing date of 1857.

There is a lot involved in identifying the quality and value of antiquarian books. For anyone selling such books, the value is only as great as the interest in purchasing it.

It does sound like you scored though! By all means, do take good care of them. They have value beyond any dollar amount.