Life of The Right Honorable William Pitt (Three Volumes, Complete) With Extracts from his Ms. Papers, New Edition, with Portraits, in Three Volumes

London: John Murray. Very Good with no dust jacket. 1879. 1. Hard Cover. Three Volumes (Complete). Original publisher's blue boards, with gilt-ruled titles on spines and gilt armorial medallion of Pitt's monogram on covers. Blind-stamped monogram on spines. Embossed borders. Dark grey endpapers. Illustrated with engraved portraits: Volumes I and II have handsome portrait frontispieces, and Volume III has a facsimile of Pitt's writing as its frontispiece. Earl Stanhope's biography has long been the authorative work on William Pitt the Younger (1759-1806). It is "an indispensable authority on the history of the period." [DNB] Stanhope was an industrious historian who had the advantage of family connections which guaranteed him access to important manuscript sources then in private hands. The earl was thus able to include a great many letters and much other information that had never before been made public. Volume 1 deals with Pitt's life up to the year 1793 (he became Prime Minister in 1784 at the age of 25 and was Prime Minister for almost the whole of the ensuing 20 years); Volume 2 deals with the period 1793 - 1801; and Volume 3 deals with the period 1801-1806. Napoleon, in his musings from St Helena, always represented himself as a peace-loving individual who was opposed by a wicked Pitt. And it was certainly partly due to Pitt, among others, that Napoleon did not succeed in his dream of uniting Europe. An outstanding biography of Britain's longest-serving Prime Minister and an essential tool in understanding the politics of the Napoleonic period. . Heads and heels of spines rubbed. All corners lightly bumped. Spines slightly rubbed. Contents near fine with very little foxing. Portraits are very attractive engravings. A very good set of this essential work. Scarce. VERY GOOD.. 8vo (9 x 6"). xiv, 494, (2); 10, x, 464; x, 461, (3) pp .