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Humanities : Philosophy

The Philosophy department at Shapero Rare Books covers over 2,000 years of history from the pre-Socratic philosophers to signed first editions by Bertrand Russell and A.J. Ayer, with a particular focus on early English editions of Plato, Aristotle, Xenophon, Seneca, Cicero, Marcus Aurelius, Boethius, Machiavelli, Descartes, Thomas Hobbes, John Locke, J.S. Mill and more.

See: Bibles & Theology, Classics, Economics, History, Humanities, Law, Occult & Magic, Politics

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  • The fourth edition of Sir Alexander Grant's English language translation of Aristotle's Ethics with his critical notes and essays
    The fourth edition of Sir Alexander Grant's English language translation of Aristotle's Ethics with his critical notes and essays

    ARISTOTLE; GRANT, Sir Alexander (translator).
    The Ethics of Aristotle 1885.
    £150.00

  • A handsome edition of Sir Thomas More's Utopia, bound in crushed red morocco by Bayntun Riviere
    A handsome edition of Sir Thomas More's Utopia, bound in crushed red morocco by Bayntun Riviere

    MORE, Sir Thomas.
    The Utopia of Sir Thomas More 1895.
    £450.00

  • An early edition of this English-language translation of Seneca's Morals
    An early edition of this English-language translation of Seneca's Morals

    SENECA; L'ESTRANGE, Roger (translator).
    Seneca's Morals by way of Abstract. 1728.
    £500.00

  • A handsomely bound first edition of Sarah Fielding's translation of Xenophon's Memoirs of Socrates.
    A handsomely bound first edition of Sarah Fielding's translation of Xenophon's Memoirs of Socrates.

    XENOPHON; FIELDING, Sarah (translator).
    Xenophon's Memoirs of Socrates. 1762.
    £1,250.00

  • The second edition, much expanded of William Wotton's Reflections upon Ancient and Modern Learning, bound with Richard Bentley's Dissertation for the first time
    The second edition, much expanded of William Wotton's Reflections upon Ancient and Modern Learning, bound with Richard Bentley's Dissertation for the first time

    WOTTON, William; BENTLEY, Richard.
    Reflections upon Ancient and Modern Learning... 1697.
    £750.00

  • The first Foulis Press edition of Tyrtaeus' panegyric on martial spirit, Spartan Lessons, edited by the classicist James Moor
    The first Foulis Press edition of Tyrtaeus' panegyric on martial spirit, Spartan Lessons, edited by the classicist James Moor

    TYRTAEUS; MOOR, James (editor).
    Spartan Lessons; 1759.
    £1,500.00

  • The first trilingual edition in English, French, and Latin of this collection of Cicero's thoughts on religion, law and philosophy
    The first trilingual edition in English, French, and Latin of this collection of Cicero's thoughts on religion, law and philosophy

    CICERO; [DAVID, Henry (translator)].
    Thoughts of Cicero, 1750.
    £450.00

  • This edition of Thomas Hobbe's Art of Rhetoric marks the first publication of his Dialogue between a Phylosopher and a Student of the Common-Laws of England
    This edition of Thomas Hobbe's Art of Rhetoric marks the first publication of his Dialogue between a Phylosopher and a Student of the Common-Laws of England

    HOBBES, Thomas.
    The Art of Rhetoric, 1681.
    £5,000.00

  • The second edition of the collected works in English of Niccolò Machiavelli, bound in cotnemporary blind-ruled calf
    The second edition of the collected works in English of Niccolò Machiavelli, bound in cotnemporary blind-ruled calf

    MACHIAVELLI, Niccolò; NEVILLE, Henry (translator).
    The Works 1680.
    £5,000.00

  • The first edition in English of Niccolò Machiavelli's The Arte of Warre, translated out of the Italian original by Peter Whitehorne
    The first edition in English of Niccolò Machiavelli's The Arte of Warre, translated out of the Italian original by Peter Whitehorne

    MACHIAVELLI, Niccolò; WHITEHORNE, Peter (translator).
    The Arte of Warre Anno. M.D.L.X. Menss. Iulii and M.D.LXII. Mense. Aprilis [1560-1562].
    £85,000.00

  • An attractive set in contemporary sprinkled calf of the collected works of Niccolò Machiavelli, following the English-language translation of Ellis Farneworth
    An attractive set in contemporary sprinkled calf of the collected works of Niccolò Machiavelli, following the English-language translation of Ellis Farneworth

    MACHIAVELLI, Niccolò.
    The Works of Nicholas Machiavel, 1775.
    £3,000.00

  • The first and only edition of this collecting of writings by Montesquieu in English translation
    The first and only edition of this collecting of writings by Montesquieu in English translation

    MONTESQUIEU, Charles Secondat (Baron de).
    Miscellaneous Pieces 1759.
    £800.00

  • The first edition in English of Aristotle's Metaphysics, translated by Thomas Taylor
    The first edition in English of Aristotle's Metaphysics, translated by Thomas Taylor

    ARISTOTLE; TAYLOR, Thomas (translator).
    The Metaphysics of Aristotle, 1801.
    £5,000.00

  • The first edition in English of Max Weber's seminal essay on The Protestant Ethic and Spirit of Capitalism, translated into English by Talcott Parsons
    The first edition in English of Max Weber's seminal essay on The Protestant Ethic and Spirit of Capitalism, translated into English by Talcott Parsons

    WEBER, Max.
    The Protestant Ethic and Spirit of Capitalism. 1930.
    £6,750.00

  • A handsome copy in contemporary tree-calf of Jean-Louis de Lolme's study of The Constitution of England
    A handsome copy in contemporary tree-calf of Jean-Louis de Lolme's study of The Constitution of England

    LOLME, Jean-Louis de.
    The Constitution of England, 1784.
    £450.00

  • The first edition of James Maitland, 8th Earl of Lauderdale's Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of Public Wealth, an important early commentary on Adam Smith
    The first edition of James Maitland, 8th Earl of Lauderdale's Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of Public Wealth, an important early commentary on Adam Smith

    LAUDERDALE, James Maitland (Earl of).
    An Inquiry into the Nature and Origin of Public Wealth, 1804.
    £800.00

  • The first edition of the first book in the English languages devoted to the Lawes Resolutions of Womens Rights, anonymously printed and attributed to Sir John Dodderidge
    The first edition of the first book in the English languages devoted to the Lawes Resolutions of Womens Rights, anonymously printed and attributed to Sir John Dodderidge

    [WOMEN'S RIGHTS].
    The Lawes Resolutions of Womens Rights: 1632.
    £25,000.00

  • The first printing of si Karl Popper's lecture on human freedom Of Clouds and Clocks, inscribe dhim him to Alan Gould
    The first printing of si Karl Popper's lecture on human freedom Of Clouds and Clocks, inscribe dhim him to Alan Gould

    POPPER, Sir Karl Raimund.
    Of Clouds and Clocks 1966.
    £1,750.00

  • The first US edition of the first English language collection of Joseph Stalin's lectures and articles on Leninism
    The first US edition of the first English language collection of Joseph Stalin's lectures and articles on Leninism

    STALIN, Joseph; PAUL, Eden & Cedar (née Gertrude Mary Davenport).
    Leninism. 1928.
    £800.00

  • The first edition of this scarce continuation by John Polemon The Second Part of the Book of Battailes, a major sorce for George Peele's The Battle of Alcazar
    The first edition of this scarce continuation by John Polemon The Second Part of the Book of Battailes, a major sorce for George Peele's The Battle of Alcazar

    [POLEMON, John].
    The Second Part of the Booke of Battailes, 1587.
    £3,750.00

  • The first edition of this reply by the religious controversialist John Jackson to Cato's Letters
    The first edition of this reply by the religious controversialist John Jackson to Cato's Letters

    JACKSON, John.
    A Defense of Human Liberty, 1725.
    £500.00

  • The first edition of this English language translation of Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics and Politics by John Gillies
    The first edition of this English language translation of Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics and Politics by John Gillies

    ARISTOTLE; GILLIES, John (translator).
    Aristotle's Ethics and Politics, 1797.
    £1,500.00

  • The first edition of Bentham's critique of English libel law, The Elements of the Art of Packing
    The first edition of Bentham's critique of English libel law, The Elements of the Art of Packing

    BENTHAM, Jeremy.
    The Elements of the Art of Packing, 1821.
    £800.00

  • One of only four known copies of this unpublished and Unfinished Draft of a Skethc of a Biography of Ludwig Wittgenstein by Friedrich August von Hayek
    One of only four known copies of this unpublished and Unfinished Draft of a Skethc of a Biography of Ludwig Wittgenstein by Friedrich August von Hayek

    HAYEK, Friedrich August von.
    Unfinished Draft of a Sketch of a Biography of Ludwig Wittgenstein. November 1959.
    £9,500.00

  • The first edition of Friedrich August von Hayek's Constitution of Liberty
    The first edition of Friedrich August von Hayek's Constitution of Liberty

    HAYEK, Friedrich August von.
    The Constitution of Liberty. 1960.
    £2,250.00

  • The first edition of Francis Bacon's Twoo Bookes of the proficiencie and advancement of learning, one of his earliest philosophical works and the only one published in England
    The first edition of Francis Bacon's Twoo Bookes of the proficiencie and advancement of learning, one of his earliest philosophical works and the only one published in England

    BACON, Francis.
    The Tvvoo Bookes of Francis Bacon. 1605.
    £5,000.00

  • The first edition of Edmund Bolton's history of Roman Emperor Nero, one of the earliest works to be illustrated with engravings of Roman coins
    The first edition of Edmund Bolton's history of Roman Emperor Nero, one of the earliest works to be illustrated with engravings of Roman coins

    [BOLTON, Edmund].
    Nero Caesar, 1624.
    £1,250.00

  • The frist edition of thi translation of Cornelius Nepos' De Viris Illustribus, The Lives of Illustrious Men
    The frist edition of thi translation of Cornelius Nepos' De Viris Illustribus, The Lives of Illustrious Men

    NEPOS, Cornelius.
    The Lives of Illustrious Men. 1684.
    £1,000.00

  • A delightful ex dono authoris presentation copy of this collection of thre works by the Greek philosophers Cebesm Hipparcgys and Appelles in English translation by Robert Warren
    A delightful ex dono authoris presentation copy of this collection of thre works by the Greek philosophers Cebesm Hipparcgys and Appelles in English translation by Robert Warren

    CEBES (attributed); HIPPARCHUS; APELLES; WARREN, Robert (translator).
    [Pinax] 1699.
    £3,000.00

  • The first edition of Bertand Russell's work on the philosophy of language, An Inquiry into Meaning and Turth, signed by him in pen to thte front free endpaper
    The first edition of Bertand Russell's work on the philosophy of language, An Inquiry into Meaning and Turth, signed by him in pen to thte front free endpaper

    RUSSELL, Bertrand.
    An Inquiry into Meaning and Truth. 1940.
    £2,500.00

  • A rare association copy of this collection of Philosohpical Essays by A.J. Ayer, inscribed by him to Sir Ifor Evans
    A rare association copy of this collection of Philosohpical Essays by A.J. Ayer, inscribed by him to Sir Ifor Evans

    AYER, Alfred Jules.
    Philosophical Essays. 1954.
    £1,875.00

  • The first edition of Freddie Ayer's Part of My Life, inscribed by him in pen to the front free endpaper
    The first edition of Freddie Ayer's Part of My Life, inscribed by him in pen to the front free endpaper

    AYER, Sir Alfred Jules.
    Part of My Life. 1977.
    £400.00

  • The Life of Socrates.
    The Life of Socrates.

    XENOPHON; PLATO; COOPER, John Gilbert (translator).
    The Life of Socrates. 1750.
    £750.00

  • The first edition in English of the collected works of Niccolò Machiavelli, comprising The Prince, History of Florence, Discourses on Livy, and The Art of War, together with his lesssener known works.
    The first edition in English of the collected works of Niccolò Machiavelli, comprising The Prince, History of Florence, Discourses on Livy, and The Art of War, together with his lesssener known works.

    MACHIAVELLI, Niccolò; NEVILLE, Henry (translator).
    The Works of the Famous Nicolas Machiavel, 1675.
    £12,500.00

  • An extraordinary, rediscovered letter from Thomas Paine to Colonel John Fellows reiterating his call for President George Washington to retire from office.
    An extraordinary, rediscovered letter from Thomas Paine to Colonel John Fellows reiterating his call for President George Washington to retire from office.

    PAINE, Thomas.
    Autograph letter signed Thomas Paine to Colonel John Fellows. 20th January 1797.
    £95,000.00

  • A near fine example of an English semi-sombre binding enclosing Thomas à Kempis' great spiritual meditation, De Imitatione Christi in English translation
    A near fine example of an English semi-sombre binding enclosing Thomas à Kempis' great spiritual meditation, De Imitatione Christi in English translation

    KEMPIS, Thomas à.
    [Imitatio Christi]. 1677.
    £2,250.00

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