Beschreibung:

Title: An Enquiry Concerning Political Justice, and Its Influence on General Virtue and Happiness Author: Godwin, William Place: Dublin Publisher: Printed for Luke White Date: 1793 Description: 2 volumes. xiii, [1], [22], 411; [22], 424 pp. 8x5, bound in period tree calf. First Irish Edition. Originally published in London in the same year; an important political tract of the 18th century and the author's masterpiece. Godwin (1756–1836) is one of the important precursors of both utilitarian and liberal anarchist thought. His 1793 Enquiry, published during the French Revolution, marks a phase in English thought, taking its place along side Milton's Areopagitica, Locke's Essay on Education and Rousseau's Emile. By the words "political justice" the author meant "the adoption of any principle of morality and truth into the practice of a community," and the work was therefore an inquiry into the principles of society, government and morals. He believed in the perfectibility of the human race, that there are no innate principles, and therefore no original propensity to evil. Godwin was also the father of Mary Wollstonecraft (author of Frankenstein). See Printing and the Mind of Man 243. Lot Amendments Condition: Chips and occasional insect wear to leather, rubbing, edge wear, white residue from old moisture exposure (leaving a bit of an odor); hinges tender, light foxing, old inked note from the Easthamption Republican Library on the front preliminary leaf of each; still a good set, worthy of restoration. Item number: 163267