The Theory of Moral Sentiments;

the first American edition

The elusive first American edition of Adam Smith's first book, published by Anthony Finley (178401836) in Philadelphia in 1817.

Very rare in commerce. We can trace no record at auction since 1990. This edition follows the text of the twelfth Edinburgh edition which appeared in 1813, and included for the first time Smith's essay on the origin of languages, titled in full 'Considerations concerning the first formation of Languages, and the different genius of original and compounded Languages'. It precedes the edition published by Well & Lilly in Boston later the same year.

Finley was best known as a cartographic publisher, operating out of premises on Fourth and Chestnut Street from 1809, with maps engraved for Daniel Edward Clarke's Travels in Various Countries of Europe, Asia, and Africa appearing in 1811, and his Atlas Classica in 1818. Further to his work as a bookseller-publisher, Finley ran on a Democratic ticket for the Philadelphia Common Council in 1818, and was an early supporter of the American Colonization Society.

Smith devoted the years from 1755 to 1759 to writing and publishing The Theory of Moral Sentiments, having been appointed Professor of Logic at the University of Glasgow in 1751 and elected Professor of Moral Philosophy a year later. It was this period at Glasgow which Smith was later to describe as 'the period of thirteen years which I spent as a member of that society I remember as by far the most useful, and, therefore, as by far the happiest and most honourable period of my life'. First published in 1759, the book immediately established Smith's reputation as a serious scholar worthy of international acclaim.

First American edition; 8vo (22 x 14 cm); 2pp ads to rear, ownership inscriptions in pen and pencil to title and endpapers, extensive pencil notes to rear endpapers, textblock browned with dampstaining throughout, occasional fold marks; contemporary tree calf, contrasting red morocco lettering-piece to spine, a little rubbed and marked, a good copy of a very rare book; vii, [1], 598, [2 ads]pp.

Kress B.7052 ('1st American'); Tribe 120.