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Price: US$468.75 + shipping
Description: Second (i.e. first complete and best) edition, 4to, 2 vols., pp. [8], 534; [8], 516, [36]; frontis and engraved plate, contemporary diced calf, rebacked in late 19th century brown morocco, gilt lettered direct on spine; Athenaeum Library release stamps on title-p., gilt supralibros of the Athenaeum Library on the upper covers, library marks in gutters of the upper covers (not visible if shelved); edges worn; a good copy. Chapters include those on the division or distribution of languages, Locke's Essay on Human Understanding, etymology, various parts of speech and assorted philosophical topics. Tooke, the well known philologist and political agitator, published the first part of his great work in 1786, the second volume not appearing until 1805. "As a philologist Horne Tooke deserves credit for seeing the necessity of studying Gothic and Anglo-Saxon, and learnt enough to be far in advance of Johnson in that direction. His philology was meant to subserve a characteristic philosophy. Locke, he said, had made a happy mistake when he called his book an essay upon human understanding, instead of an essay upon grammar." (DNB). "Tooke was a political radical, his stance was ideological, and he drew heavily on French 18th century writings on language. It was clear even to his contemporaries that many of the etymologies were wrong, but in spite of these errors such important figures as Erasmus Darwin, Coleridge, James Mill, John Stuart Mill, and Hazlitt were still greatly impressed by Tooke's accomplishment and soundness of his system. There could be no doubt that Tooke's work remained the pivot of controversy through the middle of the nineteenth century" (Aarslef, p. vii). Kennedy 353; Alston III, 854.
Seller: Rulon-Miller Books (ABAA / ILAB), St. Paul, MN, U.S.A.
Price: US$832.86 + shipping
Description: 2 Volumes. 4to. pp. 4 p.l. (incl. errata), 534; 4 p.l. (incl. errata), 615, [36]index to both volumes. engraved frontis. by W.Sharp & 1 other engraved plate, both in Part I. new half calf over 19th century marbled bds., gilt crest on upper covers of the Law Society of Upper Canada (small rubberstamp on titles & verso of frontis.). Second Edition of Part I (first: 1786); First Edition of Part II. Horne Tooke's important treatise on language established his reputation as a philologist. In it he emphasised the need for the study of Gothic and Anglo-Saxon and covered, besides the grammar of English, the distribution of language, and Locke's discussion on the 'nature, use and signification of Language' in his Essay Concerning Humane Understanding. "As a philologist Horne Tooke deserves credit for seeing the necessity of studying Gothic and Anglo-Saxon, and learnt enough to be far in advance of Johnson in that direction.His philology was meant to subserve a characteristic philosophy. Locke, he said, had made a happy mistake when he called his book an essay upon human understanding, instead of an essay upon grammar. Horne Tooke was, in fact, a thorough nominalist after the fashion of Hobbes; he especially ridiculed the Hermes of Harris, and Monboddo, who had tried to revive Aristotelean logic; held that every word meant simply a thing; and that reasoning was the art of putting words together. Some of his definitions on this principle became famous; as that truth means simply what a man 'troweth', and that right means simply what is ruled, whence it follows that right and wrong are as arbitrary as right and left, and may change places according to the legislator's point of view." (DNB) Alston III 854. cfRand I 346.
Seller: D & E LAKE LTD. (ABAC/ILAB), Toronto, ON, Canada