1905 A Short History of the English People by John Richard Green | Glasgow Academy Fine Prize Binding | Full Calf, Marbled Edges & Color Maps

John Richard Green
Macmillan and Co., Limited, London, 1905

A handsome Edwardian prize-bound edition of John Richard Green’s influential A Short History of the English People, published by Macmillan in 1905 and presented as a prize by the Glasgow Academy during the 1905–06 session.

Bound in full brown calf with an elaborate gilt Glasgow Academy decoration centered on front board, double gilt borders with decorative tooling, and gilt-decorated spine divided into compartments with morocco title label. Marbled endpapers and matching marbled page edges. The original Glasgow Academy prize label remains on the front pastedown, awarded to S. D. Newton for good work in the Fifth Class.

First published in 1874, Green’s A Short History of the English People became one of the most important popular histories of nineteenth-century England. Rather than concentrating principally upon monarchs, wars and political institutions, Green tells the broader story of the English people and the development of English society, culture, religion and political life.

This volume traces England from its earliest kingdoms through the beginning of the nineteenth century. Its ten chapters encompass The English Kingdoms, 607–1013; England Under Foreign Kings, 1013–1204; The Great Charter, 1204–1265; The Three Edwards, 1265–1360; The Hundred Years’ War, 1336–1431; The New Monarchy, 1422–1540; The Reformation; Puritan England; The Revolution; and Modern England. Among the subjects treated are the English conquest, Northumbria and Wessex, the Danish kings, Norman England and the Norman Conquest, Henry II and the Angevin period, Magna Carta, the universities and friars, the conquest of Wales, the Scottish Wars of Independence, the Hundred Years’ War, Joan of Arc, the Wars of the Roses, the Tudor monarchy, the Reformation, Mary and Elizabeth I, the Spanish Armada, Puritan England and the Civil War, the Restoration, William of Orange, Marlborough, Walpole, William Pitt, American independence, and the wars with France through 1815.

Included are chronological annals, extensive genealogical tables and maps, with several maps printed in color. The genealogical tables trace important royal and dynastic relationships, while the maps illustrate Britain and England at significant periods including ninth-century England and Britain at the time of the English Conquest.

Condition: Very Good. Full calf decorative binding with expected light rubbing to leather. Gilt decoration remains attractive. Vibrant marbled endpapers and edges. Interior pages clean and well preserved.

Size: 5” x 7¼”.

A beautiful example of the traditional British school prize binding and an especially decorative copy of one of the landmark popular histories of Victorian England.