To few literary figures has been given the enjoyment of such
thorough bibliographical coverage as Miss J. E. Norton provided in
her Bibliography of the Works of Edward Gibbon (1940).
Among
the most significant contributions of this volume is the
clarification of much of the detail surrounding the publication of
Gibbon's chief digression into political propaganda, a
semi-official "white-book" entitled Mémoire Justificatif pour
servir de réponse a l'exposé, &c. de la cour de
France
(1779). The excellence of Miss Norton's work and the prominent
character of her subject combine to make further additions to the
textual and bibliographical analysis of this pamphlet
desirable.