ROBERTSON, William.

Inquire · Offered by Peter Harrington

An Historical Disquisition Concerning The Knowledge which the Ancients had of India; First edition of one of the author's four works of history, all of which "helped establish historical writing as one of the foremost literary genres of Enlightenment Scotland" (ODNB). This copy was perhaps bound for Jacob Bosanquet Jr (1755-1828), who served as the chairman of East India Company in 1798, 1803, and 1811; it has the Broxbournbury bookplate of his son, the diplomat George Jacob Bosanquet (1791-1866)."The Disquisition falls into two main parts: the first two-thirds is a narrative of the commercial contacts India had with the outside world from ancient times to the sixteenth century; the remainder is a long appendix describing Indian culture. The narrative portion documents, gathers, and summarizes familiar but scattered material; the appendix is broadly descriptive and more innovative, following the pattern developed in the descriptive chapters of the History of America... Although in recent years both Hume and Gibbon have often been considered greater historians in terms of intellectual insight and historical comprehension, Robertson's contemporaries generally had no hesitation about making him their equal, if not superior" (ODNB).

Found via Rare Books Intel, a search across rare-book dealers, auction houses and marketplaces worldwide.