A History of Private Life: From Pagan Rome to Byzantium; Revelations of the Medieval World; Passions of the Renaissance; From the Fires of Revolution to the Great War; Riddles of Identity in Modern Times

Cambridge, Massachusetts: The Belknap Press, at Harvard Univeristy. First American Edition. Hardcover. Good/Good. Large 8vo 9" - 10. A justly celebrated and sumptuously illustrated series, revealing in intimate detail what life was really like in the ancient world and up to through early Modern times, stretching from the vast panorama of the pagan Roman empire, to the glitz and glitter of 20th century art and literature. Intimate daily lives of citizens and slaves, kings and commoners, including concepts of manhood and sexuality to marriage and the family, chastity and contraception, techniques of childbirth, sexuality, religion, the meaning of virtue, and the separation of private and public spaces. A perfectly serviceable set of reference copies, complete in five volumes, Philippe Aries and Georges Duby serving as General Editors, and with individual contributions and volume editors, volume by volume. Nothing fancy, but complete and sturdy. Each bound in two-tone, paper over boards, cloth-backed bindings, of various colors. Forward cock to two spines, some smudging to bottom page-tips, moderate wear to two of the illustrated, pictorial dust wrappers, one being chipped and soiled a bit, much less to the others, and with previous owner's embossed stamps and inscriptions to several volumes. Hundreds and hundreds of fine black-and-white and full-color illustrations and photographs, printed on high-gloss paper, and with notes, index and bibliography to each volume. Volume I (1987): From Pagan Rome to Byzantium, by Paul Veyne, ed., translated by Arthur Goldhammer, with contributions by Paul Veyne, Peter Brown, Michel Rouche and Evelynn Parthagen, with ix [2], 2-670 pp.; Volume II: The Revelation of the Medieval World (1988), with contributions by Georges Duby, Dominique Barthelemy and Charles de La Ronciere; by Danielle Regnier-Bohler; by Dominique Barthelemy and Philippe Contamine; and Georges Duby and Philippe Braunstein, with xiii [3], 3-650 pp.; Volume III (1989): Passions of The Renaissance, edited by Roger Chartier, translated by Arthur Goldhammer, with chapters by Philippe Aries (Introduction), by Yves Castan, Francois Lebrun and Roger Chartier; by Jacques Revel, Orest Ranum, Jean-Louis Flandrin, Jacques Gelis, Madelained Foisil and Jean Marie Goulemot, and others, with prelims + 1-645 pp.; Volume IV (1990): From the Fires of Revolution To the Great War, edited by Philippe Aries and Georges Duby, with contributions by Michelle Perrot (Introduction) and chapters by her and Anne Martin-Fugier, her and Roger-Henri Guerrand, and by Alain Corbin, with prelims + 1-713 pp.; Volume V (1991): Riddles of Identity in Modern Times, edited by Antoine Prost and Gerard Vincent, with contributions by Antoine Prost, Gerard Vincent, Gerard Vincent, Perrine Simon-Nahum, Remi Leveau, Dominique Schnapper, and Kristina Ofrali, Chiara Saraceno, Ingeborg Weber-Kellermann, Elaine Tyler May and others, with prelims + 3-630 pp. 1991. Altogether, the set appears to comprise First American Editions in each case.Member, I.O.B.A., C.B.A., and adherent to the highest ethical standards. Additional postage may be required for oversize or especially heavy volumes, and for sets.