278 - TAINE, Hippolyte. The Origins of Contemporary France.

TAINE, Hippolyte. The Origins of Contemporary France. Paris, Hachette et Cie, 1909–1907–1910–1912 In-12 (18 x 11.5 cm), red half-maroquin in Bradel style, smooth spine, title and volume numbers in gold. Gilded head. 12 volumes (of 12) not collated Slight rubbing and slightly yellowed paper. Complete 12-volume set, including the rare analytical table that is often missing (Volume 12), of Hippolyte Taine’s (1828–1893) monumental history of France, his magnum opus. Volumes from various editions, uniformly bound in an attractive red half-maroquin binding. Taine accorded history the status of an exact science. He himself outlined his approach in 1875 in *Les Origines de la France contemporaine*: “A historian should be allowed to act like a naturalist; I approached my subject as one would the metamorphosis of an insect…” This is a work whose individual volumes are often found separately, but it is rare to find a complete set with its index, as is the case here.