Essays
by David Hume
| Hume's Essays | ||
 at the College of William & Mary. |
||
| Author | David Hume | |
| Edition | Precise edition unknown. | |
David Hume (1711 – 1776) is considered one of the most accomplished philosophers to write in the English language. Influencing many of his famous contemporaries, Hume is well known for his work as a historian and essayist. He is considered to be a "precursor of contemporary cognitive science" and a driving force in philosophical naturalism.[1] Born in Edinburgh, Hume attended the University of Edinburgh at a very young age.[2] His family intended for Hume to follow his father in law, but this was not to be. Instead, Hume devoted himself to philosophical study and writing, producing his first great work, A Treatise of Human Nature, in 1739.[3]
Evidence for Inclusion in Wythe's Library
Listed in the Jefferson Inventory of Wythe's Library as "Hume’s essays. 1st. vol. 8vo." This was one of the titles kept by Jefferson. He may have later sold it to the Library of Congress in 1815, but the volume no longer exists to verify Wythe's prior ownership. George Wythe's Library[4] on LibraryThing indicates "Precise edition unknown." The Brown Bibliography[5] lists the first edition (1741/42) published in Edinburgh while admitting that we do not know which edition Wythe owned. It seems likely that Wythe would have had an earlier edition of the title rather than a later one. His good friend and Scotsman, William Small,[6] joined the William & Mary faculty in 1758. Small, Wythe, Thomas Jefferson and Governor Francis Fauquier must surely have discussed Hume's Essays among their many dinner conversations before Small's return to Scotland in 1762.[7] With this evidence, only the Edinburgh first edition and the 1753 duodecimo London edition seem plausible entries in Wythe's library.
As of yet, the Wolf Law Library has been unable to procure a copy of Essays.
See also
- George Wythe Room
- The History of England, from the Invasion of Julius Caesar to the Revolution of 1688
- Jefferson Inventory
- Wythe's Library
References
- ↑ William Edward Morris, "David Hume" in The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, accessed October 7, 2013.
- ↑ John Robertson, "Hume, David (1711–1776)" in Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, accessed October 7, 2013.
- ↑ Ibid.
- ↑ LibraryThing, s.v. "Member: George Wythe" accessed on February 3, 2015.
- ↑ Bennie Brown, "The Library of George Wythe of Williamsburg and Richmond," (unpublished manuscript, May, 2012, rev. May, 2014) Microsoft Word file. Earlier edition available at: https://digitalarchive.wm.edu/handle/10288/13433
- ↑ Lyon Gardiner Tyler, "George Wythe, 1726-1806," in Great American Lawyers, ed. William Draper Lewis (Philadelphia, PA: John C. Winston, 1907): 67.
- ↑ Thomas Jefferson Randolph, ed., Memoir, Correspondence and Miscellanies from the Papers of Thomas Jefferson (Charlottesville, VA: F. Carr, 1829), 1:2.