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The History of England

David Hume

Published: 1754, 1757, 1759, 1762

Copytext: 1778

Hume's History of England was written in three stages, and in reverse chronological order. He began with two volumes on the History of Great Britain (from the Union of the Crowns to the death of James II), published in 1754 and 1757. In 1759 he then published two more volumes, on the House of Tudor. This necessitated changing the title from the History of Great Britain to the History of England, since he now began the story a century and a half before the union. Finally, in 1762, he published two more volumes tracing the country's history back even further, all the way to the Celtic Britons and the Roman invasion. In 1763, the first complete set was published, but owing to the size of the work - including the now very large index included in the final volume - it had to be chopped up rather awkwardly into 8 volumes rather than 6. The text here follows the posthumous 1778 edition, which Hume was working on before he died. That edition was also (of necessity) printed in 8 volumes, but it is shown here divided into 6 volumes instead (matching the breaks that appeared in the volumes as they were originally published).

Hume.HE

THE

HISTORY

OF

ENGLAND,

from the

INVASION OF JULIUS CEASAR

to

The REVOLUTION in 1688.

Volume 1. The Early History of England, Part 1 (1762)Volume 2. The Early History of England, Part 2 (1762)Volume 3. The History of the House of Tudor, Part 1 (1759)Volume 4. The History of the House of Tudor, Part 2 (1759)Volume 5. The History of Great Britain, Part 1 (1754)Volume 6. The History of Great Britain, Part 2 (1757)