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JOSEPH PRIESTLEY

Found 3 books(s). Showing results 1 thru 3.
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"IF THE ABUSES OF GOVERNMENT SHOULD, AT ANY TIME, BE GREAT AND MANIFEST… I ASK, WHAT PRINCIPLES ARE THOSE WHICH OUGHT TO RESTRAIN AN INJURED AND INSULTED PEOPLE… FROM ALTERING THE WHOLE FORM OF THEIR GOVERNMENT?"

(CONSTITUTION) PRIESTLEY, Joseph. LL.D.F.R.S. An Essay on the First Principles of Government. London, 1768.

First edition of the profoundly influential work by Priestley, the English scientist and philosopher who defied his countrymen to support the American Revolution, a close friend of Franklin and Jefferson—who owned a copy of Priestley's Essay and considered "this one of the books which furnish the principles of our constitution"—a defining work of the Enlightenment that went beyond Locke in its argument for "political, civil and religious liberty." $12,500.

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"PRIESTLEY AND JEFFERSON SHARED… AN ENTIRE WORLDVIEW, AN UNABASHED APPRECIATION OF MODERNITY"

PRIESTLEY, Joseph. History of Early Opinions Concerning Jesus Christ. Birmingham, 1786. Four volumes.

First edition of Priestley's "most widely known work," substantially triggering Britain's 1791 "Church-and-King" riots that set his home ablaze, prompting his exile in America where he was welcomed by Jefferson, who owned a personal copy of this four-volume work and deemed Priestley one of the "few lives precious to mankind," a rare uncut, largely unopened copy in original boards. $5800.

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"PRIESTLEY AND JEFFERSON SHARED… AN ENTIRE WORLD VIEW"

PRIESTLEY, Joseph, L.L.D. F.R.S. Letters to… Edmund Burke. Birmingham, 1791.

First edition of a seminal work by the defining radical voice and scientific leader of his age, countering Burke's strike at the French Revolution by using reason and the scientific method to argue the American and French Revolutions as "decisive real-world experiments," publication of this work soon force Priestley to flee to America, strengthening his profound influence on Jefferson, who had a copy of the 1791 New York edition in his library. $1800.

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