Edward Gibbon
Edward Gibbon | |
|---|---|
Portrait by Joshua Reynolds, 1779 | |
| Member of Parliament for Lymington | |
| In office 1781–1784 | |
| Preceded by | Samuel Salt Edward Eliot |
| Succeeded by | Samuel Salt Wilbraham Tollemache |
| Member of Parliament for Liskeard | |
| In office 1774–1780 | |
| Preceded by | Harry Burrard Thomas Dummer |
| Succeeded by | Harry Burrard William Manning |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 8 May 1737 |
| Died | 16 January 1794 (aged 56) London, England |
| Party | Whig |
| Education | Magdalen College, Oxford |
| Occupation | Politician |
| Profession | Essayist, historian |
| Signature | |
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Edward Gibbon FRS (/ˈɡɪbən/; 8 May 1737 – 16 January 1794) was a British essayist, historian and minor politician. His most important and influential work, The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, was published in six volumes between 1776 and 1789, to critical and commercial success. It is known for the quality and irony of its prose, its use of primary sources, and its polemical criticism of organized religion.