VICO, Giambattista.

Inquire · Offered by Peter Harrington

Principi di scienza nuova, d'intorno alla comune natura delle nazioni. Third and definitive edition of Vico's masterpiece, presenting a cyclical theory of civilization. The treatise became "the vehicle by which the concept of historical development at last entered the thought of western Europe... The concept of a history of ideas, the principles of a universal history and its philosophical criticism, a recognition of the importance of social classes, all begin with Vico" (PMM).The work was first published in 1725. That edition is exceptionally rare on the market. Vico had been pressured to reduce the text for the first publication, and expanded and revised it throughout his remaining life. The second edition was published in 1730, like the first edition as a single duodecimo volume. This third edition was published in 1744 shortly after Vico's death and remains the definitive text. It was expanded to two parts (here bound together) and was the first to be illustrated, with a portrait of Vico, and an allegorical frontispiece followed by a 36-page explanation in which Vico introduced the "Idea of the Work".

Found via Rare Books Intel, a search across rare-book dealers, auction houses and marketplaces worldwide.