HUME (David).
Essays and Treatises on Several Subjects.
An attractive edition English-language edition of Hume’s Essays published in Basil.
The first two volumes contain Hume’s Essays Political, Moral, and Literary, originally published in 1741-2 as Essays Moral and Political. Hume had not originally authorised the first edition for publication but, upon its appearance, immediately began amending its contents for later editions and continued to do so for the next two decades. Of particular note are the essays on economics that appear in Part II, described as ‘the beginnings of modern monetary theory’ (Lucas). The third volume contains both Hume’s An Enquiry concerning Human Understanding (the title of this was also changed for the 1758 edition, the word “Philosophical” being omitted here before “Enquiry”) and An Enquiry concerning the Principals of Morals. The fourth and final volume brings together The Natural History of Religion and Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion.
Chuo, David Hume and Eighteenth Century British Thought: An annotated catalogue Supplement, 106.
