Colonies

1724 — Contemporary panelled calf. 4to. 218 pages; 26 cm. In English with bibliographical footnotes in English, Greek, Hebrew, and Latin. Mottoes on title page in Greek by Plutarch and Plato. William Wollaston “was a school teacher, a Church of England priest, a scholar of Latin, Greek and Hebrew, a theologian, and a major Enlightenment era English philosopher. He is remembered today for one book, which he completed only two years before his death: The Religion of Nature Delineated. Yet despite his cloistered life and his single book, due to his influence on eighteenth-century philosophy and his promotion of a Natural Religion, he may be considered one of the great British Enlightenment philosophers, along with Locke, Berkeley, and Hume. His work contributed to the development of two important intellectual schools: British Deism, and ‘the pursuit of happiness’ moral philosophy of American Practical Idealism, which appears notably in the United States Declaration of Independence” (Wikipedia 2017) . Benjamin Franklin wrote that he worked as a compositor on this book, which prompted him to publish his pamphlet, 'A Dissertation on Liberty and Necessity, Pleasure and Pain. ’ The Library of Congress keeps their copy in their Benjamin Franklin collection. SUBJECT(S) : Natural theology, Early works to 1800, Philosophy. Moderate pencil markings that affect parts of text. Decaying of leather. Some dampstaining and slight toning. Minimal edgewear. Good condition. (BR-12-5)