Life of George Washington.

IRVING, Washington [George Washington].

Item Number: 137074

G. P. Putnam & Co: New York, 1855.

First edition of Irving’s monumental biography of George Washington. Octavo, bound in full crushed navy morocco with gilt titles and tooling to the spines, elaborate gilt ruling to the front and rear panels, gilt turn-ins and inner dentelles, marbled endpapers, top edges gilt, tissue-guarded frontispiece portrait of Washington, original cloth bound in at rear of each volume. In near fine condition. A very attractive set.

Irving planned his “monumental” Life of Washington as early as 1825, but did not complete the biography until the final years of his life. “This triumph of scholarship crowned an erratic career… which served in many ways to consolidate the culture of the United States and Europe” (Hart, 192). “A popular work; being Irving’s it could not be otherwise” (Sabin 35189).