Universal History Volume XXI Chronological Tables 1754 Osborne Antiquarian
First edition appendix volume with complete text and original marbled boards.
1754 first edition Volume XXI only (Chronological Tables to the preceding twenty volumes). This volume serves as the chronology for the earlier volumes and is not illustrated (as issued), apart from a small title-page vignette.
 
Bibliographic Details
Title: An Universal History, from the Earliest Account of Time, Volume XXI
Being the Chronological Tables to the foregoing Twenty Volumes
Publication Details: London: Printed for T. Osborne; T. and T. Longman; C. Hitch and L. Hawes; and A. Millar, 1754
Edition: First edition (Volume XXI) - Chronological tables volume issued as part of the original eighteenth-century Universal History publication sequence
Format: Quarto-format scholarly reference volume (approx.)
Quarter-bound in leather with marbled paper boards and gilt border rules separating materials
Edge-sprinkled page edges
 
Collation:
xvi + 599 pages complete
 
Binding Description
Quarter leather binding with marbled paper boards and gilt border rules between leather and paper sections.
The spine is missing, with the rear board detached but present. The front board remains attached but fragile. Corners bumped with expected rubbing and wear across the boards consistent with age and handling.
Despite structural wear, the text block remains largely secure and complete.
 
Condition Report
An internally well-preserved but externally worn eighteenth-century scholarly volume.
The spine is missing and the rear board is detached, though present. The front board remains attached but fragile, with rubbing, fading, and bumping to corners and edges.
Internally, pages are lightly tanned yet notably clean for a volume of this age. Only occasional small creases, very light foxing, and minor marks appear, none affecting readability. A very small pen mark is present on page 296, and a minor pen correction appears on page 388.
Two preliminary leaves and the front free endpaper are partially loose but still attached. A small crack appears near the lower gutter between pages 590 and 591. The main body of the text remains firmly bound.
All pages (xvi + 599) are present and accounted for.
A solid and complete working example of this important eighteenth-century chronological reference volume.
 
Physical Details
Dimensions: approx. 21.2 x 13.5 x 4 cm
Weight: approx. 782 g
 
About This Work
An Universal History, from the Earliest Account of Time was one of the most ambitious historical publishing enterprises of the eighteenth century, intended to synthesise global historical knowledge from classical antiquity through early modern scholarship.
Volume XXI provides the chronological tables supporting the preceding twenty volumes of the series. These tables organise historical events across civilisations into structured timelines, allowing readers to compare developments across regions and historical periods.
As explained in the preface, chronology and geography were considered essential tools in transforming history into a structured scholarly discipline. The tables therefore function not merely as an index but as an interpretive framework supporting the historical narrative of the wider series.
Such chronological appendices were essential reference tools for eighteenth-century readers and remain valuable today for historians studying early modern approaches to historical method.
 
Authorship
The Universal History series was compiled collaboratively by a group of eighteenth-century scholars including:
George Sale
George Psalmanazar
Archibald Bower
The work is typically catalogued as an anonymous scholarly compilation.
 
Historical Significance
The Universal History series represents one of the earliest large-scale attempts to construct a comparative global historical narrative using primary classical and early modern sources.
The chronological tables contained in Volume XXI provided readers with a structured temporal framework linking events across cultures and regions, reflecting the eighteenth century’s developing view of history as a systematic academic discipline.
Volumes such as this were frequently used as working reference tools, which explains the comparatively lower survival rate of structurally sound examples today.
 
Condition Summary
Complete internally
First edition (1754) Volume XXI
Original marbled boards present
Edge-sprinkled pages
Spine missing
Rear board detached but present
Front board attached but fragile
Clean interior overall
Structurally stable text block
 
Rarity & Collectability
Individual eighteenth-century volumes from the original Universal History publication sequence are increasingly difficult to source, particularly those forming part of the chronological reference apparatus supporting the main historical narrative.
Although this example retains structural wear typical of heavily used reference volumes, it survives complete internally and remains suitable for collectors seeking to complete early sets or acquire representative volumes from this important Enlightenment historical project.
A genuine mid-eighteenth-century scholarly survival from one of the most ambitious historical compilations of its era.