"AS THE ROMAN REPUBLIC CHANGED TO A DICTATORSHIP… SO WOULD THE BRITISH": RARE FIRST EDITION OF ADAM FERGUSON'S MASSIVE THREE-VOLUME HISTORY… OF THE ROMAN REPUBLIC, 1783—PRAISED BY ADAM SMITH FOR "THE HIGHEST DEGREE OF MERIT"—WITH SIX LARGE MAPS

FERGUSON, Adam, LL.D. The History of the Progress and Termination of the Roman Republic. London: Printed for W. Strahan; T. Cadell, in the Strand: and W. Creech, in Edinburgh, 1783. Three volumes. Tall quarto (9-1/2 by 12-inches), contemporary full brown calf sympathetically rebacked in calf-gilt, red morocco spine labels, original plain endpapers preserved. $4500.

First edition of Ferguson's monumental work, a core influence on America's Founders in its argument against standing armies and a particular influence on John Adams who "incorporated large sections of the History within his Defence of the Constitutions," with six maps, three folding, including large folding map of "The Roman Empire," an especially distinctive association copy with a striking American provenance in possessing the owner signatures of the U.S. Navy's Commodore James Biddle in each volume. An impressive wide-margined copy.

The Scottish Enlightenment "created the basic idea of modernity… It marks a crucial turning point in America… [and] a contemporary world shaped by technology, capitalism and modern democracy." Adam Ferguson, a core Enlightenment figure along with Adam Smith, David Hume, Francis Hutcheson and Lord Kames, believed that the American Revolution, the perils of an over-extended British empire, and the end of the Roman Republic sparked a persistent philosophical question: "How can a self-governing republic rule over a vast expanse… without becoming an empire, and therefore acquisitive and corrupt?" (Herman, Scottish Enlightenment, viii, 247). By carefully examining that and other seminal questions in this massive-three volume History, Ferguson "account of Rome's mixed constitution, with its emphasis on distinctions of rank and senatorial virtue," would prove key to America's Founding Fathers, including "John Adams, who incorporated large sections of the History within his Defence of the Constitutions of Government (1787)" (McDaniel, Adam Ferguson, 214). This work is also highly distinctive in that Ferguson, alone among his peers, served in the British army and as chaplain of the famed Black Watch. His History, as such, highlights his unique influence as a philosopher who "was actively involved in political controversies in Scotland, including arguing for the necessity of the Scottish militia post-1745, and was involved in international politics, such as the Carlisle Commission which unsuccessfully attempted to resolve the differences between the British Crown and the American Colonies… It is not only Ferguson's experience with these events, but also his interpretation of historical processes which sets him apart from many of his contemporaries through his critiques of modern politics… he feared that as the Roman Republic changed to a dictatorship… so would the British" (Journal of Scottish Historical Studies).

Ferguson's friend and colleague Adam Smith was "one of the proofreaders of the manuscript" for this History and "thought it had 'the highest degree of merit'" (Bryn Mawr Classical Review). By focusing on "the era of the late Roman Republic, when the Senate was powerful," Ferguson argues that Rome "had mainly a negative lesson to teach… in his view, the career of Caesar showed the disastrous outcome when a charismatic and ambitious leader appeals exclusively to the self-interest of the populace" (Skjonsberg, Adam Ferguson). He draws "on Montesquieu's classic typology of government… [yet] had less confidence than Montesquieu, or Hume and Smith for that matter, that legal or constitutional arrangements were sufficient guarantees of liberty… Acutely aware of the crisis precipitated by the American Revolution, Ferguson emphasized how commercial overreach could itself provoke war… and dissipated political liberties" (Journal of Scottish Philosophy). In addition to emphasizing "the fatal consequences of military virtue and of entrusting arms to mercenary soldiers," Ferguson's History argues for a militia that inculcates "the practice of moral virtue." His warnings against a standing army and in favor of an engaged citizen militia, would soundly resonate with America's founders (Robertson, Scottish Militia). With six maps, including: large folding map of "Principal Kingdoms and States," large folding map of "Italy with the Provinces of Caesar," full-page map of "Theatre of the Campaign in Africa"; large folding map of "The Roman Empire"; rear errata page (III). ESTC T77047. Encyclopedia of Philosophy II:188. Jessop, 122. Title page of each volume with partially erased contemporary owner signatures; along with clear owner signatures of "James Biddle, U.S. Navy." Commodore James Biddle of the U.S. Navy was a brother of financier Nicholas Biddle and a nephew of Captain Nicholas Biddle, who was one of the first captains of the Continental Navy and would be killed at sea in a battle during the American Revolution. The owner of this copy, Commodore James Biddle "first attracted national attention when he commanded the US sloop Hornet during her defeat of the British Penguin in one of the last sea battles of the War of 1812" (Journal of the Early Republic). He was then put in command of Oregon Country on the USS Ontario. In 1845 he took part in the ratification of the Treaty of Wanghia, the first treaty between the U.S. and China and, as Commodore, anchored his flagship, the USS Columbus, with the USS Vincennes at Echo Bay in an early attempt to open trade with Japan.

Interior generally fresh with light scattered foxing, one leaf with expert restoration to corner loss, not affecting text (I,165); contemporary calf boards with a few inoofensive stains and expert restoration. An extremely good copy.