First edition of this major influence on the US Founders, "probably the best elementary book of the principles of government [...] which has ever been published in any language," according to Thomas Jefferson (1804 letter to Mason Locke Weems).
Very good.
Price: $7,500.00
"It is much to be desired in such a government as ours that it should be put into the hands of our youth as soon as their minds are sufficiently matured for that branch of study." – Thomas Jefferson (1804 letter to Mason Locke Weems)
DISCOURSES CONCERNING GOVERNMENT, by 17th-century English politician Algernon Sidney, is a foundational text in the history of the United States, second perhaps only to the writing of John Locke. The work cost Sidney his life: quotes from the manuscript of DISCOURSES were used against him when he was tried for treason in 1683, accused of fomenting an armed revolution against the monarchy. He was executed a month after the trial. Less than a century later, DISCOURSES was used as a core text for just the purpose the courts were afraid of: it was a key source for the political and philosophical basis of the US American Revolution, and founding fathers including Franklin, Jefferson, and Adams all had copies in various editions. When a Congressional committee on which James Madison was serving met to choose books "to be imported for the use of Congress," Sidney's DISCOURSES was included. A formative work in the history of US political science.
Read more: Robbins: Algernon Sidney's Discourses Concerning Government: Textbook of Revolution; "Report on Books for Congress, [23 January] 1783," via Founders Online, National Archives; Cunningham, In Pursuit of Reason: The Life of Thomas Jefferson, 30 (for 1804 letter).
London: Printed, and are to be sold by the Booksellers of London and Westminster, MDCXCVIII [1698]. Folio. 12.5'' x 8''. Contemporary speckled sheepskin boards with central blind-stamped panel, gilt dentelles. Edges speckled. [2], 462, [6] pages, collated (complete). Early armorial bookplate of the Helyar family of Coker Court, Somerset to front pastedown. Recent bookplate of Fox Pointe Collection to front pastedown. Contemporary ink scribble to title page. Skillfully rebacked with five raised bands, original title plate laid down. Hinges reinforced, renewed endpapers. Boards with some edgewear, a few tiny knocks expertly repaired. Leaves with a few tiny spots of soil to margins. A clean, solid copy.
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