1832 Pinnock’s Improved Edition of Goldsmith’s Abridgment of the History of Rome
 
Title & Bibliographic Details
 
Title: Pinnock’s Improved Edition of Dr Goldsmith’s Abridgment of the History of Rome
Author: Oliver Goldsmith
Editor: William Cooke Taylor
Publisher: Whittaker, Treacher, and Co.
Printer: Gilbert & Rivington
Edition: Twelfth Edition, corrected and enlarged
Date: 1832
Format: Contemporary leather school edition with maps and genealogical tables
 
Historical Context
 
Originally written by Oliver Goldsmith in the eighteenth century, The History of Rome became one of the most widely used introductory classical histories in Britain and remained a standard educational text well into the nineteenth century.
 
This expanded Pinnock’s Improved Edition, edited by William Cooke Taylor, incorporates important developments in early modern historical scholarship influenced by the research of Barthold Georg Niebuhr, whose work transformed scholarly understanding of early Roman constitutional history and the agrarian laws of the Republic.
 
Prepared specifically for school use, the volume includes explanatory notes, geographical material, examination questions, and interpretative commentary reflecting the most advanced classical scholarship then available to English students.
 
Illustrations, Maps & Tables
 
This edition includes:
engraved frontispiece: The Twelve Caesars 
map: Plan of Rome 
fold-out map: The Roman Empire (upper section partially lacking) 
fold-out map: Incursions of the Barbarians 
genealogical table of the Caesars (p.510) 
genealogical table of the House of Constantine (p.511) 
 
These features formed an important part of nineteenth-century classical education.
 
Binding & Exterior Condition
 
Bound in contemporary dark red-brown leather, typical of early nineteenth-century school editions.
 
Condition includes:
boards intact and structurally sound 
rubbing and surface wear consistent with age 
partial vertical split near the centre of the spine 
creasing and fading to spine 
bumping to corners 
gilt spine lettering remains visible within ruled border panel 
 
A characterful and authentic survival of an early nineteenth-century educational binding.
 
Interior Condition
 
Internally the volume remains complete and readable.
 
Features include:
engraved frontispiece present 
three maps present (two folding) 
Roman Empire fold-out map partially defective 
genealogical tables present 
light gutter cracking in places but structurally secure 
scattered small marks throughout 
occasional light creasing 
a handful of handwritten annotations not affecting readability 
slight crinkling consistent with early nineteenth-century paper 
 
Evidence suggests the front free endpaper may have been removed, though the text block remains complete.
 
All 516 pages are present.
 
Provenance
 
An early ownership inscription appears on the front flyleaf:
“Kitty Farrow” (likely Catherine Farrow) of Lincoln
 
“Kitty” was a common nineteenth-century familiar form of Catherine, and the inscription suggests the volume was used in an educational context consistent with the book’s intended purpose as a school edition.
 
Remnants beside the flyleaf indicate that an original prize or ownership label may once have been present, a feature frequently encountered in early nineteenth-century schoolbooks.
 
Physical Details
 
Pagination: 516 pages
Illustrations: engraved frontispiece
Maps: three (including two folding examples)
Tables: genealogical tables of the Caesars and House of Constantine
Dimensions: approx. 18.2 cm × 11 cm × 3.5 cm
Weight: approx. 420 g
 
About the Author 
 
Oliver Goldsmith (1728–1774) was an Anglo-Irish novelist, poet, historian, and playwright best known for The Vicar of Wakefield. His History of Rome became one of the most widely used classical school texts in Britain throughout the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.
 
About the Editor 
 
William Cooke Taylor (1800–1849) was a historian associated with Trinity College Dublin whose educational editions helped introduce modern continental historical scholarship to English-speaking students.