HUME, David.

Inquire · Offered by Peter Harrington

Four Dissertations. First edition of Hume's final major work, complete with the dedicatory leaves to the preacher-playwright John Home (1722-1808). This work, including the "Natural History of Religion", was owned by the Catholic bishop Charles Walmesley (1722-1797), who served as Vicar Apostolic of the Western District. This volume constitutes the first publication of its four essays. Originally, the collection was to include the first three essays plus "Of Suicide" and "Of the Immortality of the Soul", but Hume omitted them, fearing controversy, replacing them with "Of the Standard of Taste". Even so, the "Natural History of Religion" contended that religious belief derived not from reason or philosophy, but ultimately from the baser aspects of human nature, and particularly its capacity for fear.This work varies considerably between copies. The dedicatory leaves to Home were originally removed by Hume and later reinserted, although some copies were issued in the interim. Similarly, the first word on page 9 is "lative" - the first sheets were correctly printed thus, but the "l" was then dropped and later reinserted. The first word on page 131 is the corrected "lancing", having originally been printed "Iancing". Leaves C12 and D1 are cancels, as called for by Todd.

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