A finely-bound example of this insightful history of the various moral code and changes from ancient Greece to the reign of the first Holy Roman Emperor, Charlemagne (AD 748-814) by the Anglo-Irish historian William Edward Hartpole Lecky (1838-1903). The work begins with chapter on the 'natural history of morals' examining the 'rival claims of intuition and utility' as the basis of human ethics, and closes with a chapter on the position of women across history. Second edition; 2 vols, 8vo (227 x 152 mm); armourial bookplate front pastedown, interior of vol. I occasionally annotated in pencil to margins, some foxing to prelims; contemporary red morocco with elaborate gilt design, top edges gilt, gilt turn-ins, spines in six compartments with gilt lettering and an elaborate gilt design, marbled endpapers; overall fine; xviii, 498pp; x, 423pp. Provenance: Major Thomas Guy Frederick Paget, MP for Bosworth (armourial bookplate).