(HEGEL) GEORGE, Leopold
First edition. Leopold George (1811-1873) was professor of philosophy at Greifswald. 8vo, viii, 200 pp., contemporary marbled boards, spine rubbed, with green label and trace of shelf sticker, foxing throughout, heavier on outer leaves including title-page, which also has library stamps, still a reasonable copy.
KANT, Immanuel
Counterfeit edition from the same year as the first edition. Warda 172. 8vo, xii, 235 pp., contemporary boards, rubbed, head of spine nicked, foxing throughout, heavy on title-page, early annotation on pages 193 and 202, a reasonable copy.
KANT, Immanuel
Second edition of the second part of the Metaphysik der Sitten. Often found bound with the first part - the Metaphysische Anfangsgründe der Rechtslehre - here the Tugendlehre is a stand-alone volume. Warda 177, Adickes 90. 8vo, 246, [2] pp., contemporary marbled boards, rubbed at edges, loss to head of spine, ownership inscription on title-page, foxing in places, a good copy.
FICHTE, Johann Gottlieb
Complete first editions of both parts, uniformly bound. Taken together, these 11 volumes, edited by Fichte's son, constituted the first attempt at a complete edition of his works and are still widely cited and reprinted, most recently by de Gruyter, under the title Fichtes Werke. PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION: Together 11 volumes, large 8vo, uniform half leather over marbled boards, rubbed, smooth spines ruled and lettered in gilt, spines somewhat lightened by the sun, spine of second volume a little darker, and volume 5 carefully restored preserving the original spine, library stamps on title-page versos, otherwise internally clean and fresh, a very good set, seldom found complete.
PASCAL, Blaise
First collected edition. The tables show mathematical figures, scientific experiments, calculating machine models, and the famous triangle arithmétique, or 'Pascal's Triangle'. 5 volumes, large 8vo, frontispiece portrait after L.N. Quesnel, 128, 425; xii, 549; viii, 526, viii, 456; viii, 462 pp., 14 engraved tables, contemporary calf panelled with gilt roll, a little rubbed, spines decorated gilt in compartments with red and green labels, marbled edges and endpapers (to which a little fading along the top), no stamps or inscriptions, internally very fresh, a fine set.
REID, Thomas
Uncut first edition of Thomas Reid's greatest work in epistemology, and one of the landmarks of the Scottish Enlightenment. It was followed by his Essays on the Active Powers of Man (1788), covering moral philosophy. These two sets of Essays were systematic writings-up by Reid in his retirement of the lecture notes he had developed over long years of teaching at the Universities of Aberdeen and Glasgow. In his earlier Inquiry into the Human Mind on the Principles of Common Sense (1764) Reid had set out his anti-sceptical account of perception in sections dealing with the five senses in turn. In the present work, sense perception is just one of the Intellectual Powers to which he devotes an Essay, the others being memory, conception, abstraction, judgement, reasoning and taste. Reid's broad aim throughout this body of work is two-fold: negatively, to demolish the claims of "the ideal theory" in all these domains, and positively to establish a "philosophy of common sense" which lacks its sceptical consequences for knowledge and morality. Reid was David Hume's exact contemporary, and his earliest and most sophisticated critic. The two fellow-Scots never met, though there is correspondence between them. Reid many times expressed large and unfeigned admiration for Hume - 'the acutest metaphysician of this or any age'. He regarded it as Hume's especial merit to have brought out the sceptical conclusions which had lain hidden in the universally received philosophy of 'ideas' since Descartes's time. Included in this book is Reid's famous 'brave officer' objection to Locke's account of personal identity (pp. 333 ff), which all philosophy students learn about in their undergraduate studies. PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION: 4to, xii, 766, [2] pp., contemporary plain boards backed with more recent cloth, spine unlettered, slight browning in places, a little narrow dampstaining at edges and occasional spots, no stamps or inscriptions, a very good copy with wide margins, uncut and extremely scarce thus, the first such copy we have seen in 45 years.
HELVETIUS, Claude-Adrien
Fine early reprint of Helvetius's supplement to his famous De l'espirit (1758), which had been put on the Index and publicly burned for its radicalism. The notoriety of the former accounts for the posthumous publication, under a false imprint, of this latter (first in 1773) as De l'homme, de ses facultés intellectuelles, et de son éducation. Here Helvetius argues that all people are born with an original 'equality of spirit', but that this soon becomes skewed by educational and other social inequalities. Both Bentham and James Mill acknowledged a large debt to Helvetius, and in particular John Stuart Mill's education was influenced by this book. PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION: 2 volumes, 12mo, xliii, [ii], 407; [iv], 522 pp., contemporary calf, lightly rubbed, very minor traces of worming, spines decorated gilt with morocco labels, all edges red, marbled endpapers, a few leaves lightly browned, no stamps or inscriptions, an attractive set.
HUME, David
From 1758 onwards, Hume did not publish any of his philosophical writings outside their appearance in successive editions of Essays and Treatises on Several Subjects. Fieser 12. C.4. (James Fieser, A Bibliography of Hume's Writings and Early Responses, Thoemmes Press, 2003, p. 26). The notorious footnote to the essay Of National Characters ('I am apt to suspect the negroes to be naturally inferior to the whites .') is at Vol. I, p. 289 in this edition. See John Immerwahr, 'Hume's Revised Racism', JHI, vol. 53, no 3, 1992, pp. 481-486. PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION: 4 volumes, large 8vo, contemporary half calf over marbled boards, spines ruled gilt with red and green labels, two small ownership inscriptions on front free endpapers, light foxing particularly on outer leaves, no library stamps, a nice set.
HOBBES, Thomas
First collected edition in French, containing De Cive and De Corpore Politico translated by Samuel Sorbière, and Human Nature translated by Holbach. 2 volumes, large 8vo, portrait frontispiece, xlviii, 452, [xxii]; iv, 292 pp., contemporary polished tree calf with triple gilt fillet, slight blemish to foot of first volume and lower cover of second volume, spines richly gilt with labels, slight wear to spine ends and lower corners, two wormholes in two joints, all edges gilt, marbled endpapers, endpapers a little dampstained, a few bibliographical notes in neat pencil, otherwise internally clean with isolated spots, generally very good, an attractive set.
DESCARTES, René
First appearance of Victor Cousin's Works edition, which contains the first French translations of a number of Descartes's texts, along with extracts from his unpublished manuscripts. 'Cousin launched the modern French Descartes revival with his enthusiastic but hasty edition of the philosopher's works, which served for nearly 80 years' (Gregor Sebba, Bibliographia Cartesiana: A Critical Guide to the Descartes Literature, 1800 1960). PROVENANCE: arms supralibros of the politician Guillaume Pavée de Vendeuvre (1779-1870). Armorial bookplate of Baron A. de Turckheim. PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION: All 11 volumes, large 8vo, 46 folding engraved plates, contemporary quarter leather, rubbed and with light wear at edges and corners, spines ruled gilt in compartments, minor loss to one headcap, gilt arms supralibros on all upper and lower covers, a different armorial bookplate in Volume 1 only, portrait frontispiece in the first volume, half titles present, occasional foxing but generally clean, a very good set, seldom found complete.
SISMONDI, Jean Charles Léonard de
Rare early edition of Sismondi's 'History of the Italian Republics in the Middle Ages', which Schumpeter called his greatest work. It became an inspiration to nineteenth-century Italian nationalists. 'Sismondi was one of the pioneering advocates of unemployment insurance, sickness benefits, a progressive tax, regulation of working hours, and a pension scheme. He was also the first to coin the term proletariat to refer to the working class created under capitalism, and his discussion of mieux value anticipates the concept of surplus value. According to Gareth Stedman Jones, "much of what Sismondi wrote became part of the standard repertoire of socialist criticism of modern industry," earning him critical commentary in the Communist Manifesto' (Wikipedia). PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION: 16 volumes, 8vo, contemporary half speckled calf over marbled boards, spines gilt with red labels, half titles present, title-pages with small circular red stamp, almost no browning, a fine and handsome set.
KANT, Immanuel
"THE STARRY SKY ABOVE AND THE MORAL LAW WITHIN". First edition of the Critique of Practical Reason, the second of Kant's three Critiques and his second work in moral theory after the Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals (1785). The Second Critique is modelled in structure on the Critique of Pure Reason, having an Analytic, a Dialectic, a Deduction and an Antimony. Kant here tries to show that the essential demands of morality are built into the very concept of rationality itself, and must therefore be accepted by any rational creature as binding. The book had a huge influence on all subsequent moral philosophy from Fichte's Wissenschaftslehre onwards, eventually becoming the main reference point for deontological (or duty-based) ethics in the twentieth century. Warda 112: Adickes 67. The book contains the first appearance of Kant's famous statement of the two things that inspire awe - The starry sky above me and the moral law within me: "Der bestirnte Himmel über mir, und das moralische Gesetz in mir" (p. 288). The accompanying text is the second edition of The Metaphysical Foundations of Natural Science, intended by Kant as a first step towards a projected-but-never-completed metaphysics of nature. Adickes 64. PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION: Two works in one volume, 8vo, 292, xxiv, 158 pp., contemporary half calf over speckled boards, rubbed, spine with raised bands and gilt floral motifs in compartments, contrasting morocco labels (one nicked), marbled pastedowns, without front free endpapers, first title-page browned, both title-pages with a square piece cut out and repaired with underlay, both texts otherwise very good and clean.
HUME, David
First German translation of the early French anthology of extracts from Hume's writings, "Le Génie de M. Hume, ou Analyse de ses Ouvrages, dans laquelle on pourra prendre une idée exacte des moeurs, des usages, des coutumes, des loix & du gouvenement du peuple anglois". Londres & Paris, 1770 (Chuo 102). This German translation is much rarer than the French original: WorldCat records only four copies, three in Germany and one at the British Library; to these we can add McGill and NLS. PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION: 8vo, [xvi], 348 pp., contemporary boards, fairly rubbed and with wear at extremities, very light foxing to first and last few leaves, isolated spots, rear endpaper and pastedown with contemporary annotations, genarally a good clean copy.
Second edition of one of Kant's scarcer works, his answer to the attacks of J.A. Eberhard who had maintained that whatever was contained in Kant's critical philosophy had already been better expressed by Leibniz and Wolff. Warda 133, Adickes 70. 8vo, 126 pp., contemporary half leather over speckled boards, rubbed, some loss at spine head, old ownership stamp on front free endpaper and early one-line annotation on rear pastedown, browning in places, occasionally fairly heavy, still a good copy overall.
Seventh edition of Kant's essay 'On the power of the mind to master its morbid feelings by sheer resolution', first published in C.W. Hufeland's Journal der praktischen Arzneykunde, vol. 5, 1798, pp. 701-51, and then reprinted as the third and final part of Der Streit der Fakultäten. Adickes 96. 8vo, 78, [2] pp., contemporary embossed cloth, spine rubbed with loss at head, title-page foxed with ownership inscription, otherwise a clean copy.
First edition, uncommon. A second part came out in 1797 with Frankfurt and Leipzig as place of publication. Warda 234, Adickes 10. Large 8vo, viii, 350 pp., 1 folding plate with 2 tables, contemporary boards, worn, some loss to spine head, title-page with library stamps and an old presentation inscription in neat ink, uniform age-toning and occasional spots, a good wide-margined copy, uncut and partly unopened.
Revised edition, with a register. Warda 196, this edition not in Adickes. The official second edition was published in 1800. 8vo, viii, 356, [4] pp., contemporary half leather, spine label lettered in gilt, library stamps on title-page verso and two other places, uniform light browning, a good copy.
First book edition of this collection of essays from the Berlinische Monatsschrift. Warda 233, Adickes 8. It contains 'Das Ende aller Dinge', 'Etwas über den Einfluss des Mondes auf die Witterung', 'Ueber den Gemeinspruch: das mag in der Theorie richtig sein, taugt aber nicht für die Praxis". The accompanying piece by Kiesewetter is Adickes 468. PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION: Two works in one volume, [ii], 110, 32 pp., contemporary blue wrappers marked and dusty, expected loss to spine, ownership inscription on title-page, uniform browning and a dampstain running through the second half, still good overall.
First edition, first impression, printed in the same series and in the same year as Wittgenstein's Tractatus. This is a later issue of the first impression sheets, with publisher's advertisements dated 1941 at the end. 8vo, viii, 342, 342, 20 pp., publisher's dark green cloth, spine lettered in gilt, lightly marked, a very good clean copy.
First edition. Warda 195; Adickes 98. 'To some extent the division of subjects in this book . helped inadvertently to establish the three-fold classification of mental experiences, namely, knowing, feeling and willing, in place of the traditional two-fold classification, namely, cognition and appetition' (Wolf). Kant's book was the subject of Michel Foucault's doctoral dissertation. PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION: 8vo, xiv, 334 pp., contemporary marbled boards, worn with considerable loss especially to spine, internally clean with occasional spots, no stamps or inscriptions, not the prettiest copy but a sound one.
First edition. Warda 193, Adickes 96a. This book brought together three essays previously written by Kant but blocked by the Religionsexaminations-Kommission headed by the Prussian censor-in-chief, Johan Christoph Wöllner. Following the death of Frederick Willhelm II in November 1797 and the consequent sacking of Wöllner, their publication as "The Conflict of the Faculties" became possible. In the Introduction Kant gives the full text of a 1794 letter of reprimand by Frederick Willhelm and his own answer. He also rejoices that there is now enlightened government again, releasing the human spirit from its chains. 'What follows is a mixed bag. Even though Kant tried to unify these three disparate themes into a book it is only the first essay [on the relation between the philosophical and the theological faculties] that deals with such a conflict. The second is indeed an interesting essay [on whether the human race is progressing] but whether it amounts to a discussion of the relation between the faculty of philosophy and the faculty of law may be doubted The third essay [ostensibly on the conflict between philosophy and medicine] is highly interesting for understanding Kant's own view of life and death' (Kuehn, Kant, A Biography, pp. 404-6). PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION: 8vo, xxx, 205 pp., contemporary speckled wrappers, spine panel gone and binding loose, light foxing throughout, a wide-margined copy, uncut.
