History of the German People, Ellis & Keller, 1916. This is a fifteen-volume set titled “History of the German People from the First Authentic Annals to the Present Time”, edited by Edward S. Ellis and Augustus R. Keller, it’s an illustrated set published by the International Historical Society in New York in 1916 and printed by the Quinn and Boden Press in Rahway, New Jersey, it’s a first edition set limited to 1500 copies, and this is #473 of the 1500. The books are 3/4 bound, with five raised bands, red and maroon labels with gilt lettering and gilt devices on the spines, marbled boards with beautiful olive green morocco bindings, blank endpapers, the limitation page reads “First Edition, The First Edition is limited to 1500 copies, of which this is No. 473”, then a different frontispiece with a protective tissue guard at the beginning of each volume, the title page, which is dated 1916, the copyright page dated 1916, then one or two pages of Contents and one or two pages for a List of Illustrations in each volume, depending on the volume, the first volume has an Introduction that runs from v - xv and it’s the only one with an Introduction, the text ranges anywhere from 390 pages to 422 page long, depending on the volume, and all the top edges are gilt. The first eleven volumes were edited by Edward Ellis and Augustus Keller and the last four by Charles Horne and Augustus Keller. The books all measure 7 x 5 1/8 in. wide and are in beautiful condition. The spines and covers are bright, the leather is crisp, the bindings are tight and the pages and text and illustrations are clean and bright. The only blemishes are a smidge of browning in the front gutter of Volume III, small brown marks near the leather tips on two volumes, small brown marks at the top of the last three pages in Volume X, and that’s pretty much it. Most of the history in the books happened well before the first World War and they are a great gift for someone of German ancestry or someone who is studying the history of Europe or Germany before the war broke out, the set is rare - the books are all part of a limited first edition set and we found only one other set offered online on the rare book web site we use - and this set is in beautiful condition. #202 #1584