GODWIN | An Inquiry Concerning Political Justice and Its Influence on General Virtue and Happiness, 1793

From the Library of the Earls of Haddington

GODWIN, WILLIAM

An Inquiry Concerning Political Justice and Its Influence on General Virtue and Happiness. Printed for G.G.J. and J. Robinson, 1793

2 volumes, FIRST EDITIONS, half-titles, final errata leaf and directions to the binder in at end of volume 2, contemporary calf, red morocco spine labels, light spotting, boards slightly scuffed, bumped

“An Enquiry Concerning Political Justice was published in February 1793, only weeks after the execution of Louis XVI and with a rising tide of popular loyalism in Britain forcing the supporters of the French Revolution and reform onto the defensive. None the less, the work was an immediate success, establishing Godwin as the undaunted champion of philosophical enquiry, private judgement, and public benevolence, who predicted the gradual liberation of mankind from the shackles of government and, ultimately, mortality through the development of knowledge and the powers of the mind.” (ODNB)

LITERATURE:

ESTC T94275

PROVENANCE:

George Baillie (1644-1738), engraved armorial bookplate applied posthumously; thence by descent to the Earls of Haddington

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