The Principles of Human Knowledge; Being Berkeley's Celebrated Treatise on the Nature of The Material Substance (And Its Relation to the Absolute), With A Brief Introduction to the Doctrine and Full Explanations of the Text; Followed by An Appendix With Remarks on Kant and Hume. By Collyns Simon LL.D.
London: William Tegg & Co., 1878. First edition thus. Hardcover. Small 8vo. [5], vi-lii, [5], 6-220 pp. Bound in green cloth with both boards bordered in blind, lettering and device stamped in gilt on the front board, yellow/green endpapers and pastedowns. Algaier, Reconstructing the Library of William James; Gay Wilson Allen, William James; Mead 18. This is the first edition edited and with introduction and appendix by Simon. The front endpaper has two ownership stamps of philosopher and psychologist William James, the first is crossed out (being the older 18 Garden Street address where James resided until moving to his new house in 1889), the second is the 95 Irving Street address in Cambridge where he lived from 1889 until his death in 1910. There is also a slip of paper tipped in to the front endpaper with "PHILOS. III." printed on it. This book is not in Algaier who lists all of James' books and pamphlets that were donated to Harvard University by James and others (2,554 items), nor is it listed in the catalogue of The Hocking Collection (at the University of Massachusetts-Lowell). Therefore this book must be one of the many that were given away as gifts to colleagues or sold at the "yard sale" held in 1923. The photographs of James' library circa 1923 (see Algaier p. 4-5) suggest that it consisted of at least 4,000 volumes (Algaier suggests it may be double that), so a large portion of James' personal library is either lost or privately held. The book does contain underlining and light marginalia (vertical bars to emphasize passages and reference numbers) mostly in pencil, but we are unable to ascertain if this is the work of James himself or a later owner. James is one of the most important American philosophers of the nineteenth century and books from his personal library are scarce in commerce. Good. Item #000011096
The book is in Good-only condition with rubbing and wear to the boards and the binding, although holding, is in jeopardy.
Price: $2,000.00