"THE CLEAREST OF ALL EXPOSITIONS OF THE BASIC PRINCIPLES OF DEMOCRACY" (PMM): PAINE'S RIGHTS OF MAN, PARTS I & II, 1791-1792

PAINE, Thomas. Rights of Man. BOUND WITH: Part the Second. London, 1791, 1792.

Extremely rare editions of both parts of Paine's revolutionary classic Rights of Man. The exceptionally rare and desirable first edition, second issue of Part I, consisting of the text sheets from the famous suppressed and virtually unobtainable first issue printed by Paine's original publisher, Joseph Johnson (withdrawn by him on the day of publication because of British government intimidation), which were rescued by Paine and his friends, and the new title page and preface printed by Paine's new publisher, J.S. Jordan; bound together with the third edition of Part II. Rights of Man, one of Paine's most important, influential, and best-selling works, is "the clearest of all expositions on the basic principles of democracy" (PMM) and "one of the most ardent and clear defenses of human rights, liberty, and equality in any language" (Fructman). Paine hoped the work "would do for England what his Common Sense had done for America" (Gimbel), but it resulted in the prosecution of Paine, his publishers, and booksellers, and forced Paine to flee to France. $42,000.

RARE FIRST EDITION OF KANT'S FIRST PUBLISHED BOOK, 1749

KANT, Immanuel. Gedanken von der wahren Schatzung der lebendigen Krafte. Königsberg, 1747 [1749], 1763.

Rare first edition of Kant's first book, Thoughts on the True Estimation of Living Forces, with two folding plates, bound together with a first edition of his later treatise Only Possible Argument in Support of a Demonstration of the Existence of God. $28,500.

“THE GERM OF ALL IDEAS CAN BE FOUND IN PLATO”

PLATO. Works of Plato. London, 1701. Two volumes.

Rare first edition of the first collected works of Plato in English, handsomely bound in contemporary calf-gilt. $18,500.

"THE MOST FAMOUS AMERICAN BOOK OF COLONIAL TIMES AND THE INDISPENSABLE SOURCE FOR COLONIAL SOCIAL HISTORY"

MATHER, Cotton. Magnalia Christi Americana. London, 1702.

The exceptionally rare and exceedingly significant first edition of Cotton Mather's salvation history of colonial Massachusetts, the "most important 18th-century American book" (Howes M391), including the earliest 18th-century general map of New England (often not present). $15,000.

"THE FOUNDATION OF MODERN INTERNATIONAL LAW" AND AN IMPORTANT INFLUENCE ON THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION

GROTIUS, Hugo. Of the Law of Warre and Peace… London, 1654.

First edition in English of this cornerstone treatise on law and government, with engraved frontispiece portrait, in contemporary calf. $14,500.

"A FEW DAYS BEFORE HIS DEATH… HE GAVE ORDERS TO DESTROY ALL HIS MANUSCRIPTS, EXCEPTING SOME DETACHED ESSAYS, WHICH HE ENTRUSTED TO THE CARE OF HIS EXECUTORS"

SMITH, Adam. Essays on Philosophical Subjects. London, 1795.

First edition of this core volume of Smith's essays, issued posthumously, featuring the important first publication of History of Astronomy that seeks "to explain what drives 'philosophers' to ask the questions they do," an impressive wide-margined volume handsomely bound. $13,800.

“SOCRATES WAS THE FIRST TO CALL PHILOSOPHY DOWN FROM THE HEAVENS” (CICERO)

(SOCRATES) XENOPHON. Memorable Things of Socrates. London, 1712.

First edition in English of Xenophon’s “extensive and valuable” Memorabilia of Socrates—the first and only accessible route to Socrates prior to later 18th-century translations of Plato—a work of seminal impact on philosophy and America’s Founding Fathers, with Jefferson praising it as absolutely “genuine” in its view of Socrates, and Franklin emphasizing its influence in his Autobiography where he writes, at about age 16, of discovering the Socratic Method when he “procur’d Xenophon’s Memorable Things of Socrates.” $12,500.

"PARAMOUNT IN THE CRITICAL METHOD OF MODERN PHILOSOPHY"

KANT, Immanuel. Critick of Pure Reason. London, 1838.

First edition in English of Kant's major work, representing the "full maturity" of his philosophical thought, in original cloth. $11,500.

“THE MOST WORTHY OF THE GREAT PHILOSOPHERS”

LOCKE, John. Works. London, 1714. Three volumes.

First edition of the collected works of Locke, “the most worthy… of the indisputably great philosophers,” with exquisite copper-engraved frontispiece portrait by George Vertue and full-page memorial plate. $10,500.

"NO WORK IN OUR TIME GAVE SUCH A BLOW TO THE PHILOSOPHICAL MIND OF THE COUNTRY"

GODWIN, William. Enquiry Concerning Political Justice. WITH: Enquirer . London, 1796, 1797. Three volumes.

First octavo edition of Godwin's revolutionary masterwork, the first edition with his extensive revisions—"his passionate advocacy of individualism, his trust in the fundamental goodness of man, and his opposition to all restrictions on liberty have endured" (PMM)—a profound influence on Jefferson, viewed as Godwin's "American born counterpart," this work uniformly bound with the first edition of Godwin's Enquiry signed on the title page by William King, an especially memorable association set from the estate library of King, Eighth Baron King and First Earl of Lovelace, and his wife, Ada Byron Lovelace, daughter of Lord Byron and famed as the first computer programmer in her work with Babbage, each volume with estate library inkstamps, spines with gilt-stamped "K" monograms and "suns," in contemporary calf and marbled boards. $10,500.