The American Revolution By John Fiske, In Two Volumes, Boston And New York, Houghton Mifflin Company, The Riverside Press Cambridge, with a date of 1891 on the copyright page, so this is a first edition - it has a single date on the copyright page and no other printings, which makes this a first edition by Houghton Mifflin. (See the Pocket Guide to the Identification of First Editions; the set was later revised in 1896 too.) Both volumes are 3/4 bound, with five raised bands, gilt titles with gilt-ruled compartments and gilt decorations on the spines, marbled boards and marbled endpapers, and the top edges are gilt. Volume I has a frontis portrait of George Washington, a six-page Preface, eleven pages of Contents (xi - xxi), eight maps, and 344 pages altogether; Volume II has ten pages of Contents (iii - xii), six maps, and 305 pages altogether, including the Index and some uncut pages near the end. John Fiske (1842 - 1901) was an American philosopher and historian. His father was a newspaper editor, and John lectured at Harvard and lived in Cambridge, Mass. He was influenced by Herbert Spencer’s views on evolution, and he died from overwork in 1901. The books measure 8 x 5 3/8 in. wide, the bindings are tight and the pages are clean, with very light rubbing on the crown of the first volume, and on the edges and at the tips, and a very attractive set for someone who collects Revolutionary War history. See Bill McBride, A Pocket Guide to the Identification of First Editions, McBride Publisher, 585 Prospect Avenue, West Hartford, CT 06105. #1640 #20