"THE MOST WORTHY… OF THE GREAT PHILOSOPHERS": BEAUTIFULLY BOUND 1777 QUARTO EDITION OF LOCKE'S COLLECTED WORKS

LOCKE, John. The Works of John Locke. London: W. Strahan, et al., 1777. Four volumes. Large quarto, contemporary full brown tree calf gilt, elaborately gilt-decorated spines, red and blue morocco spine labels, marbled endpapers. $9500.

Eighth edition—"generally considered the best" edition (Christophersen, 89)—of the collected works of Locke, edited by Bishop Law, with copper-engraved frontispiece portrait and large folding outline of the Essay, handsomely bound.

Includes the ground-breaking Essay Concerning Human Understanding, "the first modern attempt" to analyze human knowledge, and the immensely important Two Treatises of Government, "the basis of the principles of democracy" (PMM 193, 194). "John Locke is the most worthy … of the indisputably great philosophers. His influence has been enormous." In his famous tribute, Voltaire observed, "Many a philosopher has written the tale of the soul's adventures, but now a sage has appeared who has, more modestly, written its history. Locke has developed human reason before men, as an excellent anatomist unfolds the mechanism of the human body. Aided everywhere by the torch of physics, he dares at times to affirm, but he also dares to doubt. Instead of collecting in one sweeping definition what we do not know, he explores by degrees what we desire to know" (Seymour-Smith, 242, 245). This edition, the eighth, was edited by Bishop Law and includes his "Life of the Author." Attig 855. Yolton 370. Bookplates.

Interior fine, beautiful contemporary tree calf expertly restored.