STUART, Gilbert.
An historical dissertation concerning the antiquity of the English constitution.
Edinburgh: printed for A. Kincaid & J. Bell; and for W. Sanby, J. Dodsley, E. Dilly, and T. Cadell, London, 1768.
8vo (210 × 120 mm.), pp. xii, 290, [2] (errata). Very light marginal offsetting or spotting to title and a few subsequent leaves. Contemporary mottled calf, spine with 5 raised bands between gilt rules, red morocco label. Very slight chips to head and foot of spine, upper joint cracked. Early engraved armorial bookplate of George Manners. A very good copy.
First edition of this influential Scottish Enlightenment contribution to the debate over the origins of English liberty. "Published in 1768, the work summarizes the history of English liberty from the time of the first Britons to the Norman invasion. Implicit in this whiggish perspective was a challenge to David Hume, whose History of England had put a relativist historiographical agenda at the forefront of the debate on the nature of British liberty. In this ambitious attempt to synthesize the conjectural method of such writers as Kames and Adam Ferguson with the controversial approach of his relative Thomas Ruddiman, Stuart applied the legal scholarship of Montesquieu and John Dalrymple" (Zachs, Oxford DNB). The title-page bears a quote from Montesquieu on the origins of the British political system concluding "Ce beau systême a été trouvé dans le bois."
£850.00
US$1689.71*
* Given as a guide only. Based on an exchange rate of £1 = US$1.987896 for the day 5 July 2008 but liable to fluctuate.
5 July 2008