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A seven volume set of some of the collected works of William H. Prescott. In seven volumes. The set consists of: History of the Reign of Ferdinand and Isabella in three volumes, History of the Conquest of Mexico in two volumes and Critical and Historical Essays in one volume. The first volume of History of the Reign of Ferdinand and Isabella has a frontispiece of W. H. Prescott. William Hickling Prescott (May 4, 1796 January 28, 1859) was an American historian and Hispanist, who is widely recognised by historiographers to have been the first American scientific historian. Despite suffering from serious visual impairment, which at times prevented him from reading or writing for himself, Prescott became one of the most eminent historians of 19th century America. He is also noted for his eidetic memory. After an extensive period of study, during which he sporadically contributed to academic journals, Prescott specialised in late Renaissance Spain and the early Spanish Empire. His works on the subject, The History of the Reign of Ferdinand and Isabella the Catholic (1837), The History of the Conquest of Mexico (1843), A History of the Conquest of Peru (1847) and the unfinished History of the Reign of Phillip II (1856 1858) have become classic works in the field, and have had a great impact on the study of both Spain and Mesoamerica. During his lifetime, he was upheld as one of the greatest living American intellectuals, and knew personally many of the leading political figures of the day, in both the United States and Britain. Prescott has become one of the most widely translated American historians, and was an important figure in the development of history as a rigorous academic discipline. Historians admire Prescott for his exhaustive, careful, and systematic use of archives, his accurate recreation of sequences of events, his balanced judgments and his lively writing style. He was primarily focused on political and military affairs, largely ignoring economic, social, intellectual, and cultural forces that in recent decades historians have focused on. Instead, he wrote narrative history, subsuming unstated causal forces in his driving storyline. In embossed red cloth bindings with gilt lettering to the spines. Externally, sound with slight rubbing. There is some minor bumping to the tops and tails of the spines. Spines are also sunned. Internally, generally firmly bound. Pages are generally bright and clean. There is some evidence of previous damp staining to the front end papers in Volume I History of the Reign of Ferdinand and Isabella. There is an ink inscription to the title-page in all volumes. Good.
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