Life and Letters of H. Tain, - 3 Volumes [Hippolyte Adolphe Taine]

1902, 1904 & 1908. First English translation in three volumes. xii, 313pp.; xii, 330pp.; xiv, 335pp. Top edges gilt. Hippolyte Adolphe Taine (1828-1893) was a French historian, critic and philosopher. He was the chief theoretical influence on French naturalism, a major proponent of sociological positivism and one of the first practitioners of historicist criticism. Taine is also remembered for his attempts to provide a scientific account of literature. The present work is not intended to be a detailed biography of Taine; but to facilitate the study of his letters and unpublished fragments. The first volume covers the years 1828-1852; the second 1853-1870; and the third 1870-1892. The first two volumes of the English edition were translated by Mrs. R.L. Devonshire; and the third volume is a slightly abridged translation, by E. Sparvel-Bayly, of the last two French volumes that were published in 1905 and 1907. The three volumes are uniformly bound in the original maroon cloth covered boards with gold titling on the spines. The cases of the books are in very good condition with some shelf wear and light soiling to the boards. The spine ends of volumes 2 and 3 are lightly bumped and there is slightly heavier bumping to the spine ends of volume 1. The contents are tight and clean with browning to the free endpapers of volumes 1 and 3. There is no inscription. PLEASE NOTE: This is a heavy set and extra postage may apply for delivery outside the UK.