edward gibbon

English - English

Definition of edward gibbon in English English dictionary

born May 8, 1737, Putney, Surrey, Eng. died Jan. 16, 1794, London British historian. Educated at the University of Oxford and in Switzerland, Gibbon wrote his early works in French. In London he became a member of Samuel Johnson's brilliant intellectual circle. On a trip to Rome he was inspired to write the history of the city. His Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, 6 vol. (1776-88), is a continuous narrative from the 2nd century AD to the fall of Constantinople in 1453. Though Gibbon's conclusions have been modified by later scholars, his acumen, historical perspective, and superb literary style have given his work its lasting reputation as one of the greatest historical works

Related Terms

Edward Gibbon Wakefield

born March 20, 1796, London, Eng. died May 16, 1862, Wellington, N.Z. British colonizer of South Australia and New Zealand. After viewing the problems of the penal system, including the forcible removal of convicts to British colonies, he wrote A Letter from Sydney (1829) and proposed colonization by the sale of small landholdings to ordinary citizens. He influenced the founding of South Australia as a nonconvict settlement. As organizer and manager of the New Zealand Company (1838-58), he sent colonists to settle New Zealand and forced the British government to recognize the colony. As an adviser to the earl of Durham, he influenced the report that led to the union of Upper and Lower Canada. He founded a Church of England settlement at Canterbury, N.Z. (1847)

Hyphenation

Ed·ward Gib·bon

Turkish pronunciation

edwırd gîbın

Pronunciation

/ˈedwərd ˈgəbən/ /ˈɛdwɜrd ˈɡɪbən/