Edward Gibbon, Memoirs of My Life

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Edward Gibbon’s

Memoirs of My Life

, popularly known as his

Autobiography

, was the first extended autobiography by a prominent Englishman to be printed and widely disseminated within a few years of his death. After completing the sixth and final volume of his

History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire

(1776-1789), the monumental work that made him famous, Gibbon began to write the story of his life. However, Gibbon himself did not produce a unified text of the autobiography; instead, he left at his death in 1794 six distinct autobiographical fragments, which were consolidated into a single narrative by his friend, John Holroyd, Earl of Sheffield, and incorporated into the

Miscellaneous Works of Edward Gibbon, Esq.

(1796). The

Memoirs

were printed separately in 1827, and again…

1408 words

Citation: Machann, Clinton John. "Memoirs of My Life". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 18 June 2008 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=9796, accessed 25 November 2024.]

9796 Memoirs of My Life 3 Historical context notes are intended to give basic and preliminary information on a topic. In some cases they will be expanded into longer entries as the Literary Encyclopedia evolves.

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