WALLACE, Robert (1697-1771)]. A Dissertation on the Numbers of Mankind in Antient and Modern Times: in which the superior populousness of antiquity is maintained. Edinburgh: G. Hamilton and J. Balfour, 1753. 8° (199 x 121mm). Contemporary calf (spine rubbed and repaired at head, upper joints slightly split).
WALLACE, Robert (1697-1771)]. A Dissertation on the Numbers of Mankind in Antient and Modern Times: in which the superior populousness of antiquity is maintained. Edinburgh: G. Hamilton and J. Balfour, 1753. 8° (199 x 121mm). Contemporary calf (spine rubbed and repaired at head, upper joints slightly split). FIRST EDITION . As Wallace was completing his Dissertation in 1751, he showed it to fellow Philosophical Society member David Hume, who reciprocated with the essay published in the Political Discourses of 1752: 'Of the populousness of ancient nations.' Hume questioned the accuracy of population estimates in ancient sources, arguing for the superiority of modern assessments.Nevertheless, his essay included a graciously worded acknowledgement of debt to Wallace who published his Dissertation in the next year with an appendix addressing Hume's essay. 'This polite exchange was widely celebrated as a model for the pursuit of truth in an enlightened age' (ODNB). Goldsmiths' 8782; Higgs 619; Kress 5318.
WALLACE, Robert (1697-1771)]. A Dissertation on the Numbers of Mankind in Antient and Modern Times: in which the superior populousness of antiquity is maintained. Edinburgh: G. Hamilton and J. Balfour, 1753. 8° (199 x 121mm). Contemporary calf (spine rubbed and repaired at head, upper joints slightly split).
WALLACE, Robert (1697-1771)]. A Dissertation on the Numbers of Mankind in Antient and Modern Times: in which the superior populousness of antiquity is maintained. Edinburgh: G. Hamilton and J. Balfour, 1753. 8° (199 x 121mm). Contemporary calf (spine rubbed and repaired at head, upper joints slightly split). FIRST EDITION . As Wallace was completing his Dissertation in 1751, he showed it to fellow Philosophical Society member David Hume, who reciprocated with the essay published in the Political Discourses of 1752: 'Of the populousness of ancient nations.' Hume questioned the accuracy of population estimates in ancient sources, arguing for the superiority of modern assessments.Nevertheless, his essay included a graciously worded acknowledgement of debt to Wallace who published his Dissertation in the next year with an appendix addressing Hume's essay. 'This polite exchange was widely celebrated as a model for the pursuit of truth in an enlightened age' (ODNB). Goldsmiths' 8782; Higgs 619; Kress 5318.
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