William Prescott (1796-1859) American, Reign of Philip the Second King of Spain 1869 Edition. 

Size: (largest) 8 1/4 X 5 1/2 X 1 1/2 in. 

This three-volume set is titled “History of The Reign of Philip The Second, King of Spain”, written by William H. Prescott and published by Lippincott in Philadelphia in 1869. The three books are three-quarter bound, with five raised bands and six gilt-ruled compartments on the spine, black labels and gilt lettering in two compartments and gilt decorations in the others, marbled boards and marbled endpapers, a frontis portrait in each volume, the title page says the first edition was published in 1855, and all the edges are marbled. Volume I has a frontis portrait of Philip the Second, a Preface that runs from page iii to vxii, Contents that run to page xxxiii, a two-page facsimile letter written by the king, notes about the illustrations in the three books (xxxv - xxxvi), and 618 pages of text. Volume II has a frontis portrait of Don Carlos, Prince of the Asturias, the Contents run from iii to xvii and the text is  610 pages long. Volume III has a frontis portrait of Anne of Austria, twelve pages of Contents  (iii - xiv), and 476  pages of text. William Hickling Prescott (1796 - 1859) was an American historian  and Hispanist who was widely recognized for being the first American scientific historian. He had bad eyesight, which hindered his reading and writing at times, but he had a photographic memory and became one of the most eminent historians of the nineteenth century. He specialized in late Renaissance Spain and the early Spanish Empire, he wrote about the Reign of Ferdinand and Isabella, the conquest of Mexico and Peru, as well as his classic work about the History of the Reign of Phillip II. He planned to write a fourth book to go along with the other three in the set, but died before the work was completed. His grandfather was also the famed William Prescott who served as an officer at the Battle of Bunker Hill in the American Revolutionary War. The books measure 8 1/4 x 5 1/2 inches wide and are in very good condition, with tight bindings and clean pages and text. There is offset from the frontis portraits, light rubbing and light scrapes on the spine and light wear at the top edges of the first volume, light wear on the edges and at the tips of the second volume, and light rubbing on the spine and at the tips on the last volume, and overall an attractive set of this classic work of Prescott.