The Works and Correspondence

Liberal MP's copy

A handsome set of the collected works and letters of the Anglo-Irish politician and philosopher Edmund Burke (1729-1797), widely regarded as the founding-father of modern conservatism.

Comprising his correspondence, speeches, including On American Taxation, delivered before the House of Commons in 1774, published letters, tracts, essays, parliamentary reports, and proceedings in the impeachment of Warren Hastings, the first Governor-General of India, as well as his major works.

The first, A Vindication of Natural Society, was a satire published in 1756 on the danger of measuring institutions by the test of reason alone. It was followed the next year by his Philosophical Inquiry into... the Sublime and Beautiful, a treatise on aesthetics which attracted the attention of Kant and Diderot, and cemented Burke's reputation on the continent as a serious philosopher.

However, Burke's greatest work remains his Reflections on the Revolution in France, a steadfast defence of moderation in the face of the tyranny of the masses and the 'Perfectabilitarians' inspired by Rousseau who claimed the ability to remake society in perfect order.

With provenance for the Liberal MP Richard Fothergill (1822-1903). He was elected to the House of Commons in 1868 for the constituency of Merthyr Tydfil, following the expansion of the suffrage with the passing of the Second Reform Act the previous year.

8 vols; 8vo (22.5 x 15 cm); engraved portrait frontispiece to vol. I, bookplates to front pastedowns, offsetting to title-page otherwise internally clean; contemporary polished calf, covers ruled in gilt, gilt spine in 6 compartments, contrasting red and brown morocco lettering-pieces, marbled edges, minor wear, very good or better.

cf.PMM 239.