Philosophy
Rare Philosophy Books for Sale Online
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“FOUNDED THE SCIENCE OF MODERN POLITICS”: RARE 1640 FIRST EDITION IN ENGLISH OF MACHIAVELLI’S THE PRINCE
MACHIAVELLI, Niccolo.
Nicholas Machiavel’s Prince. Also, The life of Castruccio Castracani of Lucca. And The meanes Duke Valentine us’d to put to death Vitellezzo Vitelli, Oliverotto of Fermo Paul, and the Duke of Gravina. Translated out of Italian into English; by E. D. With some Animadversions noting and taxing his errours.
London: R. Bishop for Wil: Hils, and to be sold by Daniel Pakeman, 1640.
Rare first edition in English of Machiavelli’s Prince, a seminal work in the foundation of modern political theory and a great classic of political science. 12 mo, bound in full contemporary calf with burgundy morocco spine labels lettered in gilt, gilt ruling to the spine, all edges red. Name to the title page, rebacked. An exceptional example, most rare and desirable in this condition and in a contemporary binding.
Price: $78,000.00 Item Number: 122648
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Rare First Edition of Herodotus' Historiae, in Greek
HERODOTUS; EDITED BY ALDUS MANUTIUS,.
Historiae, In Greek.
Venice: Aldus Manutius, September, 1502.
Rare first edition of Herodotus‘ history of the Persian Wars, one of the most important texts edited by the great scholar-printer-publisher. Folio, bound in contemporary vellum, woodcut title in Greek and Roman letter, verso with dedication in Latin, text in Greek letter throughout with spaces for capital letters, woodcut device on title and last page. Aldus claims in the dedication that he corrected the text from multiple exemplars, one of the few instances where such a claim by him is justified and can be verified. He was the first to have access to the ‘Florentine’ codices, where Valla had used the so-called Roman family of manuscripts for his translation. The printer’s copy was discovered in Nuremberg by Brigitte Mondrain in 1993 (Scriptorium 49 [1995], pp. 263-273). The History was designed to match the Aldine Thucydides of four months earlier: they share a paper stock, all types and the number of lines per page. Ahmanson-Murphy 50; Isaac 12782; Laurenziana 64; Renouard, Alde 35:8; Sansoviniana 67. In excellent condition with light rubbing and wear, bookplates to the pastedown, some light toning to the text, occasional Greek and Latin annotations in a c.17th-century hand, small repairs to the final four leaves. An exceptional example of this landmark work, rare and desirable in contemporary vellum.
Price: $32,000.00 Item Number: 96588
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Extremely rare first Latin edition of Galileo's revolutionary Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems
GALILEI, Galileo.
Systema Cosmicum in Quo Quatuor Dialogis, de Duobus Maximis Mundi Systematibus, Ptolemaico et Copernicano. [Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems].
Strasbourg: D. Hauttius for the Elzevir, 1635.
Rare first Latin edition of Galileo’s epoch-making Dialogo, the summation of the extraordinary mathematician’s astronomical thought and the work which directly precipitated his 1663 trial and judgement for heresy. Preceded only by the 1632 edition in Italian. Small octavo, bound in full contemporary vellum, engraved additional title page, full page engraved frontispiece portrait of Galileo by Jacob van der Heyden, woodcut diagrams, with the final leaf of errata. This Latin edition includes two tracts in the appendix not in the Italian edition of 1632, and it is the only major work of Galileo’s to be published outside Italy during his lifetime. The two added Latin tracts are the introduction to Kepler’s Astronomia nova (pp. 459-464), and a letter by Paolo Antonio Foscarini defending the truth of Copernicanism and rebutting the charge that it conflicted with scripture (pp. 465-495). With the appendix by P.A. Foscarini which contains an attempt to reconcile the Copernican views with the Holy Scripture. In near fine condition. Exceptionally rare, as the work was rigidly suppressed from the start.
Price: $28,000.00 Item Number: 93890
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“The starting point of all achievement is DESIRE. Keep this constantly in mind. Weak desire brings weak results, just as a small fire makes a small amount of heat": Rare First Edition of Napoleon Hill's Think and Grow Rich; Signed by Him
HILL, Napoleon.
Think and Grow Rich.
CT: Ralston Society, 1937.
First edition of this classic bestseller, which has sold over 100 million copies. Octavo, original cloth. Boldly signed by Napoleon Hill on the front free endpaper. Near fine in a near fine dust jacket. Housed in a custom half morocco clamshell box. This is the first example of a first printing we have seen signed. Rare and desirable.
Price: $22,500.00 Item Number: 89533
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First Edition in English of Hugo Grotius' foundational work: On the Law of War and Peace
GROTIUS, Hugo.
The Illustrious Hugo Grotius of The Law of Warre and Peace with Annotations in III. Parts and Memorials of the Author’s Life and Death.
London: Printed for T. Warren and William Lee, 1655.
First edition in English of Grotius’ foundational work on international law. Small octavo, bound in full contemporary calf with red morocco spine label lettered in gilt, engraved frontispiece portrait of the author. In very good condition. Rare, with no other examples appearing at auction in the last 80 years.
Price: $22,500.00 Item Number: 111091
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THE FIRST JEWISH TRANSLATION OF THE PENTATEUCH INTO ENGLISH
LEESER, Isaac.
The Law of God.
Philadelphia: C. Sherman, 5605, 1845-46.
First edition of the “first English translation of the Pentateuch in America,” the 1845 Hebrew-English Bible by one of the most prominent and influential figures in American Jewish history. Octavo, 5 volumes. Translated by Isaac Leeser. Bound in contemporary polished calf, gilt titles and tooling to the spine, rebacked. Lightly rubbed, moderate wear. A very nice example of a scarce and important work.
Price: $22,500.00 Item Number: 49020
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THE FIRST JEWISH TRANSLATION OF THE PENTATEUCH INTO ENGLISH
LEESER, Isaac.
The Law of God.
Philadelphia: C. Sherman, 5605, 1845-46.
First edition of the “first English translation of the Pentateuch in America,” the 1845 Hebrew-English Bible by one of the most prominent and influential figures in American Jewish history. Octavo, 5 volumes. Translated by Isaac Leeser. Bound in contemporary embossed decorative leather, gilt titles and tooling to the spine, front and rear panels, all edges gilt. Given as a wedding gift in London to Emily Sarah [Davis] by her new father-in-law Jacob Franklin, 12 December 1866. The groom was Lewis Abraham Franklin (1820-1879), who had gone to California in the Gold Rush, living in San Francisco from 1849 to 1855 and then in San Diego until 1860 before returning to England. In very good condition, inscribed in English and Hebrew on front flyleaf and half-title by Jacob Franklin. An exceptional presentation.
Price: $22,500.00 Item Number: 113020
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“Justice is the first virtue of social institutions, as truth is of systems of thought": First Edition of John Rawls Magnum Opus A Theory of Justice; Signed by Him
RAWLS, John.
A Theory of Justice.
Cambridge, MA: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 1971.
First edition of the author’s masterpiece. Octavo, original cloth. Signed by John Rawls on the front free endpaper. Near fine in an excellent dust jacket with some rubbing. Housed in a custom half morocco clamshell box. Books signed by Rawls are rare.
Price: $22,000.00 Item Number: 99758
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“When we are no longer able to change a situation, we are challenged to change ourselves": First Edition of Viktor Frankl's Classic Work Man's Search For Meaning; Signed by Him
FRANKL, Viktor E.
From Death-Camp To Existentialism [Man’s Search For Meaning].
Boston: Beacon Press, 1959.
First edition in English of Frankl’s classic work, which was later titled Man’s Search For Meaning in 1962. Octavo, original cloth. Boldly signed by Viktor Frankl on the title page. Near fine in a very good dust jacket. Translated by Ilse Lasch. Preface by Gordon Allport. Originally published in German, in 1946 under the name Ein Psycholog erlecbt das konzentrationslager. Housed in a custom half morocco clamshell box. Signed first editions are exceptionally rare and desirable.
Price: $22,000.00 Item Number: 105790
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The Indian War of Independence of 1857; signed by Vinayak Damodar Savarkar and from the famed library of Raja Shamraj Rajwant Bahadur
SAVARKAR, Vinayak Damodar.
The Indian War of Independence of 1857.
, c. 1909.
First edition in English of this highly influential work on the history of the 1857 rebellion by “one of the makers of free India.” Octavo, original cloth with gilt titles to the spine and front panel, patterned endpapers, folding map. Signed by the author on the half-title page. From the famed library of Raja Shamraj Rajwant Bahadur with his ownership initials and library notes to the front free endpaper noting that the book was “purchased on 1-3-1943” (prior to Gandhi’s assassination) and that the author’s autograph was obtained subsequently on 23-12-1957 in Bombay. Indian nobleman Raja Shamraj Rajwant Bahadur assembled India’s greatest library, famed for its diverse collection of rare antiquarian manuscripts and important books. Tipped in is a 1958 newspaper clipping from The Times of India adhered to the pastedown which reads in part, “Dr. C.P. Ramaswami Alyar said here today that the Indian people owed a debt of gratitude to Mr. V.D. Savarkar for his contribution to revolutionary thought and as such he was entitled as being one of the makers of free India.” In very good condition. Uncommon, the only signed example of this work we have seen.
Price: $20,000.00 Item Number: 106594
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One of the Earliest Calligraphic Works by Thomas Merton
MERTON, Thomas.
Thomas Merton Original Calligraphic Artwork.
Original signed artwork from Thomas Merton. In the last decade of his life, while living as a hermit-monk in dialogue with the world, Thomas Merton created a body of visual art, drawing from the Zen Buddhist tradition. When he was a student at Columbia University, Merton sought out a Hindu monk named Bramachari for counsel. The monk advised Merton to follow his own Christian tradition to find what he was most deeply looking for. A strong admirer of Gandhi, Merton also noted how Gandhi, a Hindu, had found a congenial ‘ second home’ of sorts in the Christian Sermon on the Mount. In the 1950’s Merton began exploring Buddhism, especially Zen Buddhism. He thought he found some resonance between Zen and the Desert Fathers. Merton sent a copy of his study of the Desert Fathers to Daisetsu Suzuki, the leading exponent of Zen in the west. They began a long correspondence in the late 1950’s, and Suzuki’s influence can be seen in Merton’s artwork. Includes a letter from activist W.H. Ferry, which reads, “4/3/68 For Mary Sue Dilliard: Daisetsu Suzuki told Father Tom Merton in 1965 that the only way finally to understand Zen was to practice calligraphy. This is the result: one of Tom’s earliest calligraphs. W.H. Ferry.” On the Center for the Study of Democratic Institutions letterhead, which Ferry was the Vice President. Matted and framed, which measures 13 inches by 15 inches. Calligraphy drawing measures 9 inches by 12.5 inches. On the verso of the frame, it includes various Merton material including numerous clippings. Original artwork by Merton is exceptionally rare in the marketplace.
Price: $20,000.00 Item Number: 17032
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First Edition in English of "One of the Most Important Texts of the Twentieth Century" Martin Heidegger's Being and Time; Signed by Him
HEIDEGGER, Martin.
Being and Time.
New York: Harper & Row, Publishers, 1962.
First edition in English of the book that “changed the course of philosophy” (Richard Rorty). Octavo, original cloth. Signed by Martin Heidegger on the front free endpaper. Fine in a very good dust jacket with some wear to the rear panel. Translated by John Macquarrie and Edward Robinson. Housed in a custom half morocco clamshell box. Exceptionally rare signed, as no signed examples have appeared at auction in the last 50 years.
Price: $20,000.00 Item Number: 35056
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“All the sacred rights of humanity are violated by insisting on blind obedience”: First edition of Mary Wollstonecraft's landmark work A Vindication of the Rights of Woman
WOLLSTONECRAFT, Mary.
A Vindication of the Rights of Woman: With Strictures on Political and Moral Subjects.
London: J. Johnson, 1792.
Rare first edition of this landmark work in both Enlightenment philosophy and the history of feminism. Octavo, bound in full morocco, marbled endpapers. In near fine condition with some light toning to the text, contemporary name to the title page. Housed in a custom slipcase. An exceptional example.
Price: $20,000.00 Item Number: 110854
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“The timeless in you is aware of life's timelessness. And knows that yesterday is but today's memory and tomorrow is today's dream": Kahlil Gibran's The Prophet; lengthily inscribed by him
GIBRAN, Kahlil.
The Prophet.
New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1923.
First edition, early printing of the author’s masterpiece. Octavo, original cloth, with illustrations by the author. Association copy, lengthily inscribed by Kahlil Gibran on the title page, “This is for Elenor Fisch, who lives in the world of beautiful understanding. Kahlil Gibran, 1926.” From the library of D. Rajagopal with his library stamp to the front pastedown. Rajagopal was the lifelong friend and editor of Indian philosopher Jiddu Krishnamurti, the leader of the Theosophy movement in the early 20th century, and one of its most famous figures. In his teachings, Krishnamurti stressed the necessity for a revolution of human consciousness, which could only occur with radical religious, political, and social change. Near fine in a very good dust jacket. Housed in a custom half morocco clamshell box. Rare and desirable signed and with noted provenance.
Price: $19,500.00 Item Number: 96203
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“Though freedom is not a state of nature but an artifact of civilization, it did not arise from design: FIRST EDITION OF THE ECONOMISTS CLASSIC WORK, THE CONSTITUTION OF LIBERTY; SIGNED BY F.A. HAYEK
HAYEK, Friedrich August von [F.A.].
The Constitution of Liberty.
London: Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1960.
First edition of Hayek’s classic statement on the ideals of freedom and liberty. Octavo, original cloth. Boldly signed by F.A. Hayek on the title page. Fine in a near fine dust jacket. Housed in a custom half morocco clamshell box.
Price: $18,500.00 Item Number: 3502
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“In any society freedom of thought will probably be of direct significance only for a small minority": First Edition of F.A. Hayek's The Road To Serfdom; In the Rare Original Dust Jacket
HAYEK, Friedrich August von [F.A.].
The Road To Serfdom.
London: Routledge & Sons, 1944.
First British edition of one of the most influential and popular expositions of classical liberalism ever published. Octavo, original black cloth. Very good in the rare original dust jacket with some rubbing and wear to the extremities. The British edition was published in March of 1944, preceding its American counterpart, which was published later that same year in September. Housed in a custom half morocco clamshell box.
Price: $18,500.00 Item Number: 105942
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THE FIRST JEWISH TRANSLATION OF THE PENTATEUCH INTO ENGLISH
LEESER, Isaac.
The Law of God.
Philadelphia: C. Sherman, 5605, 1845-46.
First edition of the “first English translation of the Pentateuch in America,” the 1845 Hebrew-English Bible by one of the most prominent and influential figures in American Jewish history. Octavo, 5 volumes. Translated by Isaac Leeser. Bound in full contemporary calf, gilt titles and tooling to the spine. In near fine condition. A nice example, rare in contemporary binding.
Price: $18,500.00 Item Number: 78547
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First Edition of F.A. Hayeks Classic Treatise The Constitution of Liberty; Signed by Him
HAYEK, Friedrich August von [F.A.].
The Constitution of Liberty.
Chicago: The University of Chicago, 1960.
First edition of Hayek’s classic statement on the ideals of freedom and liberty. Octavo, original cloth. Boldly signed by F.A. Hayek on the title page. Fine in a near fine dust price-clipped jacket with a few small closed tears. Housed in a custom half morocco clamshell box.
Price: $18,000.00 Item Number: 99700
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“Only the refusal to listen guarantees one against being ensnared by the truth": Rare First Edition of Robert Nozick's Anarchy, State, and Utopia; Signed by Him
NOZICK, Robert.
Anarchy, State, and Utopia.
New York: Basic Books, 1974.
First edition of the author’s foundational text in classic liberalism thought. Octavo, original cloth. Boldly signed by Robert Nozick on the half-title page. Fine in a near fine dust jacket with light rubbing. Housed in a custom half morocco clamshell box. Signed first editions are exceptionally rare; this is the first example we have seen or handled.
Price: $16,000.00 Item Number: 35003
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“Man is by nature a social animal; an individual who is unsocial naturally and not accidentally is either beneath our notice or more than human": Exceptionally Rare First Edition in English of Aristotle's A Treatise on Government
ARISTOTLE; TRANSLATED BY WILLIAM ELLIS,.
A Treatise on Government. Translated From The Greek of Aristotle.
London: T. Payne, 1776.
First edition in English of this important work on government by Aristotle. Quarto, bound in three quarters leather over marbled boards. In very good condition with light toning to the text and wear. Bookseller plate of George Gregory, Bath, Sept. 22, 1936 on the front pastedown. Translated by William Ellis. First editions are rare, with the last example appearing at auction in 1914.Price: $16,000.00 Item Number: 81182
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"what first attracts our interest in the person of Moses is his name": First Edition of Freud's Moses And Monotheism; Inscribed by Him To His Niece
FREUD, Sigmund.
Moses And Monotheism.
New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1939.
First American edition of last book written and published in Sigmund Freud’s lifetime. Presentation copy, inscribed on the front free endpaper, “To dear Poppy from Uncle Sigm. London 1939.” The eldest daughter of Freud’s elder brother, Philipp, Pauline “Poppy” Freud was born in 1873 when Sigmund was seventeen years old. Freud visited Pauline and her parents in Manchester, England periodically throughout her childhood and maintained correspondence with Pauline well into her adulthood, visiting her and her husband, Frederick Oswald Hartwig, in London in 1939. Near fine in a very good dust jacket with some wear to the extremities. Housed in a custom clamshell box. Freud association copies of this magnitude seldom enter the marketplace.
Price: $15,000.00 Item Number: 67018
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"Mary Baker Eddy was far ahead of her time in the emphasis she placed upon positive thinking, a force which modern psychology was belated in recognizing": Mary Baker Eddy's Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures; inscribed by her to her cousin, the daughter of President Franklin Pierce
EDDY, Mary Baker.
Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures.
Boston: Published by the Author, 1886.
Early printing of the central text of the Christian Science which continues to rank as a best-seller to this day. Octavo, bound in contemporary three quarters morocco over marbled boards, gilt titles and tooling to the spine, marbled endpapers, all edges marbled. Association copy, inscribed by the author on the second free endpaper in the year of publication, “Mrs. F. McNeil Potter, with love from the Author, 1886.” The recipient, Frances Maria McNeil Potter was the niece of President Franklin Pierce and his sometimes hostess in the White house, assisting First Lady Jane Pierce after the death of the president’s son Benny. In the winter of 1882, Mary Baker Eddy visited Washington, where “Mrs. Potter caller on [her] several times and showed considerable interest in Christian Science. Together they drove to the Botanical Gardens, the Smithsonian Institution, and the Congressional Cemetery where they knelt at the grave of General John McNeil, Mrs. Potter’s father and the cousin of Mrs. Eddy’s grandmother, Maryann McNeil Moore” (Peel, Mary Baker Eddy: The Years of Discovery). Potter and Eddy’s correspondence continued until Potter’s death and Potter remained one of Eddy’s biggest supporters when many distanced themselves from the religious leader and the founding of the Church of Christ, Scientist. In very good condition. Housed in a custom half morocco clamshell box. Books signed and inscribed by Mary Baker Eddy are rare.
Price: $15,000.00 Item Number: 90463
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Etching of Albert Einstein by Erich Buttner; Signed by Both Einstein and Buttner
EINSTEIN, Albert; Erich Buttner.
Albert Einstein Signed Etching.
1917.
Rare large etching of Albert Einstein done by well-known artist Erich Buttner. Signed by both Einstein and Buttner. In fine condition. Double matted and framed, the entire piece measures 12.25 inches by 15 inches. An exceptional piece. In the 1920s he created a series of portraits of his friends and fellow artists including Lovis Corinth, George Grosz, Arno Holz and Heinrich Zille. He produced a very fine book of exlibris (bookplates) in Berlin 1921. This book contains the exlibris of Albert Einstein 1917, probably Einstein’s only bookplate. The etching measures 12.5 inches by 9.5 inches. Double matted and framed. The entire piece measures 18.75 inches by 15.75 inches.
Price: $14,000.00 Item Number: 112748
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“Intelligence is the ability to adapt to change”: Presentation Copy of The First Edition of Stephen Hawking's The Universe In A Nutshell
HAWKING, Stephen .
The Universe In A Nutshell.
London: Bantam, 2001.
First British edition of Hawking’s sequel to A Brief History of Time. Quarto, original boards, illustrated. Presentation copy, with Stephen Hawking’s thumbprints on the title page. Witnessed by K. Thurkettle, and dated 21.07.14 and inscription from Hawking in Thurkettle’s hand, “To Jimmy Bridson “Look up at the stars and not down at your feet…” Fine in a near fine dust jacket. Housed in a custom half morocco clamshell box.
Price: $13,500.00 Item Number: 102988
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"People go off to marvel at the height of mountains and the great waves of the sea and the broad courses of rivers, and the flow of the ocean, and the circuits of the stars: but they neglect themselves": C.S. Lewis' copy of Sir Thomas Browne's highly influential 17th century Christian confessional Religio Medici; with Lewis' ownership signature and notes throughout
BROWNE, Thomas. [C.S. Lewis].
Religio Medici and Other Essays by Sir Thomas Browne.
London: Chapman & Hall, Ltd, [1911].
C.S. Lewis’ copy of Browne’s celebrated 17th century “confession of Christian faith qualified by an eclectic and generally skeptical attitude” (The Oxford Companion). Octavo, original boards, paper spine label, gilt vignette to the front panel, tissue-guarded engraved frontispiece portrait of Browne. British author and theologian C.S. Lewis’ copy with his ownership signature to the front free endpaper, “C.S. Lewis April 1919”, underlines, marks, and footnotes to several pages, most notably a lengthy quote from The Confessions of St. Augustine to page 29: “(1) Et eunt homines mirari alta montium et ingentes fluctus maris et latissimos lapsus fluminum et oceani ambitum et gynos siderum et relinquunt se ipsos nec mirantur. (Augustin.Conf.X.viii.15). Cf Davies Nosce Teipsum. Introd.p.49”, which translates as: “People go off to marvel at the height of mountains and the great waves of the sea and the broad courses of rivers, and the flow of the ocean, and the circuits of the stars: but they neglect themselves”, which Lewis has added as a footnote to the passage, “we carry with us the wonders we seek without us: there is all Africa and her prodigies in us “(1)” We are that bold and adventurous piece of nature, which he that studies wisely learns, in compendium, what others labour at in a divided piece and endless volume.” Lewis has also noted “Antimonies p. 41” on the verso of the rear endpaper and left marginal pencil marks next to several passages including, “As for those wingy mysteries in divinity and airy subtleties in religion which have unhinged the brains of better heads, they have never stretched the pia mater of mine. Methinks there be not impossibilities enough in religion for an active faith; the deepest mysteries ours contains have not only been illustrated, by maintained, by syllogism and the rule of reason” and “There is therefore some other hand that twines the thread of life than that of nature: we are not only ignorant in antipathies and occult qualities: our ends are as obscure as our beginnings: the line of our days is drawn by night, and the various effects therein by a pencil that is invisible.” Regarded by many as one of the most influential Christian apologists of his time, C.S. Lewis has been referred to as “The Apostle to the Skeptics” due to his early approach to religious belief as a sceptic, and his following conversion. Lewis was very interested in presenting an argument from reason against metaphysical naturalism and for the existence of God. His works Mere Christianity, The Problem of Pain, and Miracles were all concerned, to one degree or another, with refuting popular objections to Christianity. His autobiography, Surprised by Joy, recounted his conversion and his most famous work, Chronicles of Narnia contained strong allegorical Christian messages. In near fine condition. A remarkable example linking two great intellectual theologians and exhibiting Browne’s direct influence on Lewis’ thinking.
Price: $12,500.00 Item Number: 122430
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“They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety": Rare First Edition of Benjamin Franklin's Political, Miscellaneous, and Philosophical Pieces
FRANKLIN, Benjamin.
Political, Miscellaneous, and Philosophical Pieces; Arranged under the Following Heads…General Politics; American Politics before the Troubles; American Politics during the Troubles; Provincial or Colony Politics; Miscellaneous and Philosophical Pieces.
London: J. Johnson, 1779.
First edition of “the only edition of Franklin’s writings (other than his scientific) printed during his lifetime” (Ford). Thick quarto, bound in full contemporary calf with gilt ruling to the spine, red morocco spine label lettered in gilt, gilt turn-ins. With the engraved frontispiece portrait of Franklin, two full page engravings, one folding engraving and on folding typographical table. In very good condition. Complete with index, addenda and corrigenda. Bookplate to the pastedown of Hereward Brackenbury. A rarity in contemporary calf.
Price: $12,500.00 Item Number: 119776
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“If I didn't try to assume responsibility for my own existence, it would seem utterly absurd to go on existing": First Editions of each volume in Jean Paul Sartre's Roads to Freedom trilogy; with two volumes inscribed by him
SARTRE, Jean Paul.
Les Chemins de la Liberté: L’age de Raison, Le Sursis, La Mort Dans L’ame. [The Roads to Freedom: The Age of Reason, The Reprieve, Troubled Sleep.
Paris: Gallimard, 1945-1949.
First editions of all three volumes in Sartre’s Roads to Freedom trilogy. Octavo, original wrappers and illustrated boards. L’age de Raison and Le Sursis are inscribed by Jean Paul Sartre, “A Monsieur Robert Moureau hommage de Je Sartre.” Each volume is in near fine condition. L’age de Raison and Le Sursis retain the original glassine. Rare and desirable signed by Sartre.
Price: $12,500.00 Item Number: 116309
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First Edition of Alfred North Whitehead's Classic Text Process and Reality; Signed by Him
WHITEHEAD, Alfred North.
Process and Reality: An Essay in Cosmology.
New York: Macmillan & Company, 1929.
First edition of Alfred North Whitehead’s magnum opus. Octavo, original blue cloth. Signed by Alfred North Whitehead on the title page. From the Library of Henry David Aiken, with his signature dated 1943 on the front free endpaper. Aiken was a student of Ralph Barton Perry’s at Harvard when Whitehead also was a professor there from 1924 through 1937 and was a participant at Whiteheads’ famous Cambridge Sunday afternoon open houses, which ran until Whitehead’s death in 1947. Aiken was a Harvard philosophy professor from 1946 through 1965 and along with W. V. Quine, his friend and colleague, and Mortin White had shepherded the transformation of the Harvard Philosophy Department with the addition of philosophers John Rawls, Hilary Putnam, and Robert Nozick, into a strong and significant presence of Analytic Philosophy in the United States. Housed in a custom half morocco clamshell box. Books signed by Alfred North Whitehead are scarce.
Price: $11,500.00 Item Number: 34005
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Silver Gelatin Print of Albert Einstein; Signed and dated by Him
EINSTEIN, Albert.
Albert Einstein Signed Photograph.
1952.
Black and white silver gelatin photograph of Albert Einstein. Signed “A Einstein 52.” Full-length group portrait showing Albert Einstein standing with Hadassah National President Rebecca Beldner Shulman and others at his Princeton home in June of 1952 during a celebration marking the commencement of building of the Hadassah-Hebrew University Medical Center in Jerusalem. The photograph measures 8 inches by 9.5 inches. The entire piece measures 19 inches by 20.5 inches. An exceptional piece.
Price: $11,000.00 Item Number: 72091
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Silver Gelatin Print of Albert Einstein; Signed and dated by Him
EINSTEIN, Albert.
Albert Einstein Signed Photograph.
1952.
Black and white silver gelatin photograph of Albert Einstein. Signed “A Einstein 52.” Group portrait showing Einstein standing between Talmudic scholar Tamar de Sola Pool and Hadassah National President Rebecca Beldner Shulman at his Princeton home in June of 1952 during a celebration marking the commencement of building of the Hadassah-Hebrew University Medical Center in Jerusalem. The photograph measures 8 inches by 10 inches. Double matted and framed. The entire piece measures 13.5 inches by 15.5 inches. An exceptional photograph of Einstein, rare and desirable signed.
Price: $9,800.00 Item Number: 51046
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“One is not born, but rather becomes, a woman": First Edition of Simone de Beauvoir's The Second Sex; Signed by Her
DE BEAUVOIR, Simone.
The Second Sex.
New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1953.
First edition in English of the author’s masterpiece. Octavo, original half cloth. Signed by Simone de Beauvoir on the title page. Fine in a very good dust jacket with light rubbing and wear to the extremities. Housed in a custom half morocco clamshell box. Signed first editions of this classic work are rare and none have appeared at auction in the last sixty years.
Price: $9,800.00 Item Number: 21090
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Rare Carte-de-Visite of John Stuart Mill; Signed by Him
MILL, John Stuart.
John Stuart Mill Signed Carte-de-Visite.
Carte-de-visite signed by philosopher John Stuart Mill. 2.5 inches by 4 inches. Matted and framed. The entire piece measures 9.75 inches by 8 inches. Rare and desirable signed.
Price: $9,800.00 Item Number: 33088
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Etching of Albert Einstein by Lionel S. Reiss; Signed by Both Reiss and Einstein
EINSTEIN, Albert; Lionel S. Reiss.
Albert Einstein Signed Etching.
1921.
Etched portrait of Albert Einstein by well-known Polish-American Jewish artist Lionel S. Reiss. Signed by both Einstein and Reiss. In fine condition. Double matted and framed, the entire piece measures 13.5 inches by 16.5 inches. An exceptional piece.
Price: $9,800.00 Item Number: 87430
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Rare First Edition of Thomas Hobbes' The Moral and Political Works
HOBBES, Thomas.
The Moral and Political Works.
London: 1750.
First edition of the collected works of Hobbes. Folio, bound in full calf to period style, raised bands, gilt spine emblems, red morocco title label, marbled endpapers, frontispiece engraved title page. In very good condition. Containing Leviathan, De Corpore, Human Nature, Behemoth (1679) and other key writings. xxviii, (2) ii, 697 (3) pp. Macdonald & Hargreaves 107. CBEL I:871. See Lowndes, 1077. First editions are rare.
Price: $9,800.00 Item Number: 121929
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Etching of Albert Einstein by Emil Orlik; Signed by Both Orlik and Einstein
EINSTEIN, Albert; Emil Orlik.
Albert Einstein Signed Etching.
1920.
Engraved bust portrait of Albert Einstein by Emil Orlik. Inscribed by Albert Einstein in German (English translation), “To Alice sending it to her as a remembrance Albert, February 1925.” Additionally signed by the artist, Emil Orlik on the lower right. The etching measures 10.5 inches by 14 inches. Matted and framed. The entire piece measures 20 inches by 17 inches.
Price: $9,500.00 Item Number: 49058
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Etching of Albert Einstein by Hermann Struck; Signed by Both Struck and Einstein
EINSTEIN, Albert; Hermann Struck.
Albert Einstein Signed Etching.
1923.
Etch bust of Albert Einstein done by well-known artist Hermann Struck. Signed by both Einstein and Struck, numbered 49/150. In fine condition. Double matted and framed, the entire piece measures 12.25 inches by 15 inches. An exceptional piece.
Price: $9,500.00 Item Number: 95890
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Rare Illuminated Astrological Sign Symbol Painting Collection; elaborately bound in full decorated calf and containing twelve original paintings
Illuminated Astrological Sign Symbol Painting Collection.
Rare collection of illuminated paintings depicting the twelve signs of the Zodiac. Quarto, bound in full with gilt tooling to the spine, elaborate gilt ruling to the front and rear panels with fleuron cornerpieces surrounding a gilt-bordered morocco onlay displaying a coat of arms, patterned endpapers, twelve vellum leaves. The illuminated paintings include: the Aires the Ram, Taurus the Bull, the Gemini Twins, Cancer the Crab, Leo the Lion, the Maiden Virgo in Medieval dress, the Scales of Libra, Scorpio, Sagittarius the Centaur, Capricorn the Goat, Aquarius the Water-bearer, and Fishes Pisces. Painted in a style reminiscent of Medieval illumination, likely produced in the late 18th to early 19th century. In very good condition.
Price: $9,500.00 Item Number: 199552
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FIRST EDITION OF THE COUNTER-REVOLUTION OF SCIENCE; SIGNED BY F.A. HAYEK
HAYEK, Friedrich August von [F.A.].
The Counter-Revolution of Science: Studies on the Abuse of Reason.
Glencoe, Illinois: The Free Press, 1952.
First edition of Hayek’s critique of reason, written at the same time as The Road to Serfdom. Octavo, original cloth. Fine in a very good dust jacket. Signed by F.A. Hayek on the front free endpaper. Housed in a custom half morocco clamshell box. Rare and desirable signed.
Price: $8,800.00 Item Number: 3645
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Scarce First edition of Commandino's commentary of Ptolemy's Planisphaerium; one of the few extant examples from the Aldine Press in Roman type
PTOLOMAEUS, Claudius. Edited and with Commentary by Federico Commandino.
Ptolemaei Planisphaerium. Iordani Planisphaerium. Federici Commandini Urbrinatis in Ptolemaei Planisphaerium Commentarius.
Venice: Paulus Manutius (Aldine Press), 1558.
First separate edition and first edition of Commandino’s commentary of Ptolemy’s Planisphaerium, the original Greek text of which is no longer extant. Octavo, two volumes bound into one in eighteenth century vellum, all edges speckled red, Aldine device on both titles and both final pages, woodcut initials, numerous woodcut diagrams. The Ptolemaei is printed in Roman type and the Planisphaerium in Italics; examples from the Aldine Press in Roman type are scarce as the press’s founder, Aldus Manutius, invented the Italic type which he used almost exclusively. The Aldine press was also the first to issue printed books in the small octavo size. After Aldus’ death in 1515 the press was continued by his wife, Maria and her father, Andrea Torresani, until his son, Paulus Manutius (1512–1574) assumed management in 1534. It is from this era that most, if not all, of the works from his press bear the imprint In Aedibus Haeredum Aldi et Andrea Asulani Soceri. In near fine condition with minor marginal dampstaining to a few pages. Exceptionally rare and desirable.
Price: $8,800.00 Item Number: 95289
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"Poet, Singer, Great heart, may our god bless your name, and the womb that held you, and the breasts that gave you milk. and may god forgive us all"; First Edition of Kahlil Gibran's Jesus The Son of Man; Warmly Inscribed by him
GIBRAN, Kahlil.
Jesus: The Son of Man.
New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1928.
First edition of Kahlil Gibran’s masterful retelling of the story Jesus of Nazareth. Octavo, original cloth, illustrations by the author. Presentation copy, inscribed by the author on the front free endpaper in the year of publication, “For Roy and D. from Howard and Bill With the blessing upon you four, and with the gratitude of Kahlil Gibran 1928.” Near fine in a near fine dust jacket. Housed in a custom half morocco clamshell box. Rare and desirable inscribed and in the original dust jacket.
Price: $8,500.00 Item Number: 89433
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"Good luck to all good Americans!" First Edition of Theodore Roosevelt's Fear God and Take Your Own Part; Signed by Him
ROOSEVELT, Theodore.
Fear God and Take Your Own Part.
New York: George H. Doran Company, 1916.
First edition of this collection of essays by the twenty-sixth President of the United States. Octavo, original cloth. Signed by the author on the front free endpaper, “Good luck to all good Americans! Theodore Roosevelt March 27th 1916.” In near fine condition, note to the front free endpaper. Housed in a custom half morocco clamshell box. An exceptional inscription.
Price: $8,200.00 Item Number: 100345
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First Edition of Karl Popper's Conjectures and refutations; Inscribed by Him to Rudolf Serkin
POPPER, Karl.
Conjectures and Refutations: The Growth of Scientific Knowledge.
New York: Basic Books, 1962.
First edition of this major work by Popper. Octavo, original cloth. Association copy, inscribed by the author on the front free endpaper, “To Rudi greatest of pianists and for me the only one with love from Karl March 28th, 1963.” The recipient, Rudolf Serkin, is widely regarded as one of the greatest Beethoven interpreters of the 20th century and was a lifelong friend of Popper’s. Popper and Serkin met in Salzkammergut, Austria in 1919 and their friendship lasted until Serkin’s death in 1991. In 1934, Serkin asked his mother-in-law, Frieda Busch, to bring Popper’s Logik der Forschung (The Logic of Scientific Discovery as it first appeared in German) to the attention of Albert Einstein as the young author did not have an academic position and needed assistance in gaining attention in the scientific community. Einstein responded warmly upon receipt of the book and endorsed the philosophy on all of its essential points. His endorsement created a stir in Vienna and beyond and the book soon received praise from other giants in the field including Rudolf Carnap, Oskar Morgenstern, and Freidrich Hayek. Near fine in a near fine dust jacket. Housed in a custom half morocco clamshell box. An exceptional association.
Price: $7,800.00 Item Number: 77942
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“Working on the right things is what makes knowledge work effective": First Edition of Peter F. Drucker's The Effective Executive; Signed by Him
DRUCKER, Peter F.
The Effective Executive.
New York: Harper & Row, Publishers, 1967.
First edition of Drucker’s classic work. Octavo, original cloth. Boldly signed by Peter F. Drucker on the front free endpaper. Fine in a near fine dust jacket with light rubbing. Housed in a custom half morocco clamshell box. Rare and desirable signed.
Price: $7,800.00 Item Number: 23008
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“The destiny a person suffers therefore has a twofold meaning: to be shaped where possible, and to be endured where necessary": First Edition of Viktor E. Frankl's The Doctor and the Soul; Signed by Him
FRANKL, Viktor E.
The Doctor and the Soul: An Introduction to Logotherapy.
New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1955.
First edition of Frankl’s classic work which explores topics on the meaning of life in general as well as the meaning of specific areas of one’s life, such as work and personal relationships. Octavo, original cloth. Presentation copy, inscribed by the author on the front free endpaper in the year of publication, “To Mrs. Norma Phil- Cips Viktor Frankl May 1st 1955 Chicago.” Bookplate of the recipient to the front pastedown, near fine in a good dust jacket. Typography, binding and jacket design by Herbert Bayer. Translated from the German by Richard and Clara Winston.
Price: $7,500.00 Item Number: 119462
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First Edition of Edward L. Bernays' Public Relations; Inscribed by Him
BERNAYS, Edward L.
Public Relations.
Norman, OK: University of Oklahoma Press, 1952.
First edition of Bernays’ classic work regarding public relations. Octavo, original cloth. Presentation copy, inscribed by the author on the on the front free endpaper, “To Ivan Black- in memory of our TV adventure of informing, persuading and adjusting- Edward L. Bernays July 1, 1952.” Included is a one page autographed signed letter on Bernays’ letterhead asking whether the theatrical publicity industry used his theories. Near fine in a very good dust jacket. Rare and desirable signed.
Price: $7,500.00 Item Number: 81028
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"with love & admiration": First Edition of Marriage and Morals; Inscribed by Bertrand Russell to his Publisher Horace Liveright
RUSSELL, Bertrand.
Marriage and Morals.
New York: Horace Liveright, 1929.
First edition of this work by Russell, in which he questions the Victorian notions of morality regarding sex and marriage. Octavo, original cloth. Association copy, inscribed by the author on the front free endpaper to his publisher, “To Horace Liveright from Bertrand Russell with love & admiration.” The recipient, Horace Liveright was an American publisher and stage producer. With Albert Boni, he founded the Modern Library and Boni & Liveright publishers. He published the books of numerous influential American and British authors. In 1917 Liveright founded the Modern Library. It was formed as a reprinting line, publishing inexpensive books from European modernists, while Liveright published the work of contemporary Americans. Liveright published work by T. S. Eliot (The Waste Land), Charles Fort (The Book of the Damned), Theodore Dreiser (An American Tragedy), and Bertrand Russell (Marriage and Morals). The company also published the first books by Ernest Hemingway, William Faulkner, Hart Crane, Dorothy Parker, and S. J. Perelman. In very good with light rubbing. Housed in a custom cloth clamshell box. A significant association.
Price: $7,500.00 Item Number: 54042
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"Reader if thou wilt do the fame, thy profit will be as great as mine": Exceptionally rare printing of Benjamin Franklin's An Old Man's Experience, or Poor Richard's Maxims Improved
SAUNDERS, Richard [Benjamin Franklin].
An Old Man’s Experience, or Poor Richard’s Maxims Improved.
: , .
Rare printing of Benjamin Franklin’s An Old Man’s Experience, or Poor Richard’s Maxims Improved, published under the pseudonym Richard Saunders in full, “An Old Man’s Experience, or, Poor Richard’s Maxims Improved. Reader, if you buy this Book, and seriously consider its contents, though it cost thee but a Trifle, it may save thee Many Pounds.” Small octavo, original wrappers as issued. No publisher or date listed. In very good condition with tape repair to the spine and rear panel. Exceptionally rare, no other copies matching this title and pagination have come to auction.
Price: $7,500.00 Item Number: 96182
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“The destiny a person suffers therefore has a twofold meaning: to be shaped where possible, and to be endured where necessary": First Edition of Viktor E. Frankl's The Doctor and the Soul; Signed by Him
FRANKL, Viktor E.
The Doctor and the Soul: An Introduction to Logotherapy.
New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1955.
First edition of Frankl’s classic work which explores topics on the meaning of life in general as well as the meaning of specific areas of one’s life, such as work and personal relationships. Octavo, original cloth. Boldly signed by Viktor Frankl on the title page. Fine in a near fine dust jacket. Typography, binding and jacket design by Herbert Bayer. Translated from the German by Richard and Clara Winston. Housed in a custom half morocco clamshell box.
Price: $7,500.00 Item Number: 102478
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“Education begins the gentleman, but reading, good company and reflection must finish him": First Edition of John Locke's Some Thoughts Concerning Education
LOCKE, John.
Some Thoughts Concerning Education.
London: Printed for A. and J. Churchill, 1693.
First edition of Locke’s seminal treatise on the education of gentlemen which, for over a century, was the most important philosophical work on education in England. Octavo, bound in full calf with morocco spine label lettered and decorated in gilt, raised bands and ruling to the spine. ruling and floral cornerpieces to the front and rear panels stamped in blind, all edges speckled red. In very good condition. Housed in a custom cloth clamshell box. A scarce and important work.
Price: $7,500.00 Item Number: 106030
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First Edition of Theodore Roosevelt's Fear God and Take Your Own Part; Signed by Him
ROOSEVELT, Theodore.
Fear God and Take Your Own Part.
New York: George H. Doran Company, 1916.
First edition of this collection of essays by the twenty-sixth President of the United States. Octavo, original cloth. Signed by the author on the front free endpaper, “with all good wishes from Theodore Roosevelt May 10th 1917.” In near fine condition.
Price: $7,200.00 Item Number: 110536
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“Politics is war without blood, while war is politics with blood": First Edition of Quotations from Chairman Mao
MAO ZEDONG (MAO TSE-TUNG OR ZEDUNG),.
Mao Zhu Xi Yu Lu. [Quotations from Chairman Mao].
Beijing: Central Political Department of the Chinese People's Liberation Army, 1964.
First edition of Quotations from Chairman Mao. Duodecimo, in the original iconic red vinyl, title to front cover in blind, frontispiece portrait of Chairman Mao. With the textual error on pp. 82/83 corrected and Lin Biao’s calligraphic endorsement leaf after the frontispiece tipped in from a later printing. In 1972, an edict was issued that Lin’s name was to be obliterated from history, following disclosures that he had plotted a coup and planned to assassinate Mao; consequently, “many surviving copies in the Chinese language have that page legitimately torn away, mutilated or censored” (Schiller, p. 36). In near fine condition. Housed in a custom red slipcase.
Price: $6,800.00 Item Number: 100159
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“When we are no longer able to change a situation, we are challenged to change ourselves": Viktor Frankl's Classic Work Man's Search For Meaning; Signed by Him
FRANKL, Viktor E.
From Death-Camp To Existentialism (Man’s Search For Meaning).
Boston: Beacon Press, 1959.
Early printing in English of Frankl’s classic work, which was later titled Man’s Search For Meaning in 1962. Octavo, original cloth. Boldly signed by the author on the front free endpaper, “Sacramento, ’66 Viktor Frankl.” Name on the front free endpaper, near fine in a very good dust jacket. Translated by Ilse Lasch. Preface by Gordon Allport. Originally published in German, in 1946 under the name Ein Psycholog erlecbt das konzentrationslager. Signed examples are exceptionally rare and desirable.
Price: $6,800.00 Item Number: 10025
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"THE KEY FOR THE UNDERSTANDING OF HIS THOUGHT": FIRST EDITION OF THE SENSORY ORDER; INSCRIBED BY F.A. HAYEK TO FRIEND AND FELLOW UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO PROFESSOR DAVID GRENE
HAYEK, Friedrich August von [F.A.].
The Sensory Order. An Inquiry Into the Foundations of Theoretical Psychology.
Chicago: University of Chicago, 1952.
First edition of Hayek’s foundational study of cognitive behavior—”an exercise in profound thinking.” Octavo, original cloth. Presentation copy, inscribed by the author on the front free endpaper, “To David Grene with all the best wishes from F.A.H. Nov. 52.” The recipient David Grene, was a professor of classics at the University of Chicago and co-founder of the Committee on Social Thought. In 1950, Hayek left the London School of Economics for the University of Chicago, where he became a professor in the Committee on Social Thought. Near fine in the rare dust jacket with some wear to the spine and extremities. Housed in a custom half morocco clamshell box. A nice association.
Price: $6,800.00 Item Number: 4495
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First edition of Volume 24 of the Journal of Symbolic Logic; Including The First Appearance of Saul A. Kripke's Landmark Essay A Completeness Theorem in Modal Logic
KRIPKE, Saul A.
The Journal of Symbolic Logic: A Completeness Theorem in Modal Logic.
New Haven, New Jersey: Association for Symbolic Logic, Inc, March 1959.
First edition of Volume 24 of The Journal of Symbolic which includes the first appearance of Kripke’s landmark paper, A Completeness Theorem in Modal Logic. Presentation copy, inscribed by Saul A. Kripke on the first page of his theorem, “For Thorild Dahlquist, Saul Kripke.” In this paper, Kripke both proves the formal completeness of modal logic (supplemented by first-order quantifiers and the sign of equality) and “create[s] a semantics, now called Kripke semantics” (Hurley, Logic: The Essentials, 217). “Of great importance is the paper “Semantical Analysis of Modal Logic I” where normal systems are treated. It is here that Kripke fully develops the analogy with the algebraic results of Jónsson and Tarski and proves completeness and decidability for propositional systems T, S4, S5, and B (the Brouwersche system), which is here introduced It is in this paper that two crucial generalizations of the model theory are introduced” (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy). Octavo, original wrappers as issued. In near fine condition. Scarce, especially signed and inscribed.
Price: $6,000.00 Item Number: 88076
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First edition in English of John Calvin's Commentarie upon S. Paules Epistles to the Corinthians
CALVIN, John.
A Commentarie upon S. Paules Epistles to the Corinthians.
London: Imprinted by Thomas Dawson for John Harison and George Byshop, 1577.
First edition in English of John Calvin’s commentaries on the Pauline Epistles. Octavo, bound in full speckled calf with raised bands to the spine, all edges red, rebacked. Title within architectual woodcut border, woodcut initials. In very good condition. First editions are rare.
Price: $6,000.00 Item Number: 96188