Talk:Edward Gibbon

From Academic Kids

Contents

1 Gibbon's Catholicism 2 Article minimalistic 3 Every schoolboy knows 4 Hi, Allie, nice rewrite 5 Medical 6 Edits 7 Thesis of his Renowned Book 8 Influence on Isaac Asimov

Gibbon's Catholicism

Do we have an entry for 'deprogramming'? Because that's exactly how Gibbon's family acted about Catholicism - taking him away from one school, sending him to professionals in a different company, etc. And 'began to espouse' - was he received into the Catholic Church, or did he just talk about it? --MichaelTinkler

All I know is what is in the introduction to my edition of the Decline and Fall, in which the following is quoted from his memoirs: "at the age of sixteen, I bewildered myself in the errors of the Church of Rome." It nowhere states that he was an actual member of the Church, and it seems that fact would be included, if true. --Dmerrill

Actually, there were lots of reasons to understate. His own family's reaction shows that the prejudice was more than mild. His own later intellectual prejudice enters in, as well. I'm not sure one way or the other, but I've read that he did. Nothing springs to hand online that looks helpful (there's one article by Paul Turnbull, whose name I recognize from History-L 'Buffeted for Ancestral Sins: Gibbon’s writings on his childhood and Catholic conversion', Eighteenth Century Life: Studies in the Eighteenth Century (1987) no. 6, pp. 18-35, but I haven't read it so I don't know how far the conversion process went). I'm away from a library. --MichaelTinkler

Article minimalistic

I think that the article is very minimalistic, and can use a lot more data. For example:

1. That he met some lady he loved in Lausanne
2. That his father did not approve, and therefore he never married
3. That he felt more at home in Switzerland than in England
4. That he returned to Lausanne to write the remainder of his magnum opus
5. That he left Switzerland after the French Revolution seemed to be spreading there
6. That he was in a British militia for some time
7. That he died after his hydrocele (water in the scrotum) was treated (probably infection), a condition he neglected for years
8. That he consciously wrote for posterity (being a historian)

There is a lot of material to be added. The 1911 Encyclopedia entry (link in the article) is a good start. -- KB 02:06, 2004 Apr 30 (UTC)

Every schoolboy knows

His catchphrase must imply that at least boys from Westminster School and Kingston Grammar School know since he attended both in a short school career.JPF 00:32, 30 Sep 2004 (UTC)

Hi, Allie, nice rewrite

Hi Allie, very nice work! I did a minor copyedit, just standardizing a few wikilinks—unlinking grammar school, piping Mme de Staël link, changing South Sea ventures to South Sea Bubble. Oh, and regretfully took out the personal hygiene of Swedenborg, because asides are not so encyclopedic, they're more essaistic or lecture-appropriate, (I have some doubts about Mme de Staël, too). (Just kidding, it was really because I want all Swedes mentioned on Wikipedia to be described as exceptionally clean and fragrant.) Or actually I invisibled it, check out the edit field, you'll see it's still there. Oh, and made Eddie rather than his dad 14 years old. ;-)
You might want to clarify the "considered "primary" sources" and "considered "secondary" sources" (which you discussed on Decline and Fall Talk, I think it was). Are considered, were considered, are to be considered? Why? What do primary and secondary mean (the assumed reader is not an academic)?--Bishonen | Talk 22:36, 10 Jan 2005 (UTC)

Thanks, Bishonen.

Medical

Is it just me, or does the discussion of Gibbon's medical problems threaten to overwhelm the discussion of his life? Couldn't this be presented more summarily? Also, it would be interesting to present the source of this information; I don't see it in Bonnard's edition of the Memoirs of My Life. Presumably it's from a recent biography? Mark K. Jensen 00:58, Feb 2, 2005 (UTC)

Edits

The last extensive edit by an anon seems to have whacked some stuff in addition to rephrasing. The subtle but large-scale twisting of the assessment is starting to irritate me, so I'm going to give the anon a chance to explain himself/herself a chance to explain before reverting. Stan 14:38, 20 Feb 2005 (UTC)

I concur - it now reads like one of the Olympian judgments of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica or some such work. john k 15:01, 20 Feb 2005 (UTC)

Thesis of his Renowned Book

The thesis of Gibbon's renowned book, The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, should be given in capsule form. Especially since there is no external link to an article about the book in the Wikipedia.

Also, seems to me this Gibbon article might address whether the ideas Gibbon put forward in his book are today deemed to have had any relevance to an anlysis of the fall of, say, the Spanish or British Empires. -J.R.

Influence on Isaac Asimov

I wonder wether it would be appropriate to note in the article that Gibbon influenced no only Winston Churchill, but also Isaac Asimov, who has said that reading the The Decline and the Fall of the Roman Empire has suggested him the idea of the Foundation series. Actually I think this is worth mentionning - but I don't know in what part of the article it should go. Any suggestions? Thanks. Mithrandir1986 20:44, May 23, 2005 (UTC)

Many articles have a "XXX in culture" section at the end that note this sort of influence, or just call it "Influences on other writers" or some such. The Asimov connection is completely appropriate and desirable - connects past to present in an interesting way. Stan 02:42, 24 May 2005 (UTC)