Robertson, William — An Historical Disquisition Concerning the Knowledge which the Ancients had of India and the Progress of Trade with that Country Prior to the Discovery of the Passage to it by the Cape of Good Hope

G : in good condition. Cover rubbed. Title panels missing. Some foxing London T Cadell; F C & J Rivington; J Nunn; &c 8th edition 220mm x 140mm (9" x 6"). ix, 372pp. 2 fold-out maps. The Works of William Robertson,volume X. Born in the manse of Borthwick in Midlothian in 1721, William Robertson was an ordained minister of Lady Yester's church in Edinburgh. Horace Walpole, commenting on Robertson's earlier work, praised his style as 'uncommonly good'. He became principal of Edinburgh University in 1762 and, two years later, the King's historiographer. A noted Scottish historian of his time, Robertson's later work on Charles V was highly praised by Voltaire and Gibbon. This book on India was his last major project before his death in 1793.