An Inquiry into the Credibility of the Early Roman History.

The first edition of this attack on the German historian Barthold Georg Niebuhr's (1776-1831) seminal history of ancient Rome, Römische Geschichte, by the English classicist and statesman Sir George Cornewall Lewis (1806-1863).

Niebuhr's work attempted to recreate the history of Rome prior to the earliest written records, relying in the process on oral tradition, the so-called 'lays' or 'ballads', which Lewis derides as 'internal evidence'.

Yet 'if every positive conclusion of Niebuhr's had been refuted, his claim to be considered the first who dealt with the ancient history of Rome in a scientific spirit would remain unimpaired, and the new principles introduced by him into historical research would lose nothing of their importance. He suggested, though he did not elaborate, the theory of the myth, so potent an instrument for good and ill in modern historical criticism. He brought in inference to supply the place of discredited tradition, and showed the possibility of writing history in the absence of original records' (ODNB).

A handsome copy in contemporary tan calf gilt from the library of Edward Strutt, 1st Baron Belper (1801-1880), who served variously as Member of Parliament for Derby, Arundel, and Nottingham from 1830 until 1852. He was raised to the peerage as Baron Belper in 1856.

First edition; 2 vols; 8vo (22 x 14.5 cm); bookplate to front pastedown of each vol., minor spotting; contemporary tan calf, covers ruled in gilt, gilt spines in 6 compartments, contrasting red and green morocco lettering-pieces, marbled edges, minor wear, very good; xii, 551, [1]; xii, 594pp.