On Liberty
Boston: Ticknor and Fields, 1863. First American edition. Hardcover. Post 8vo. [3], 4-223, [3] pp. Brown textured publisher's cloth with borders and a lozenge design (publisher's device) stamped in blind on the front and rear boards, copper lettering on the spine; brown topstain. Brown coated endpapers and pastedowns. Macminn, Hainds, McCrimmon 92. Sabin 48987. SEP, "John Stuart Mill". Co-written with his wife Harriet Taylor Mill, first published in the United Kingdom shortly after she died. This is the first American edition. Mill's highly influential, classic treatise on principles foundational to a liberal democracy (freedom of speech, thought, action, and character). The rights of an individual in contrast to the authority of the state are explored in Mill's treatise. The work also considers the threat of the tyranny of the majority, as the Mills wrote this in a time when monarchy and aristocracy were changing, and the rights of common people were slowly increasing. Mill's arguments for individualism are clearly stated in this volume: "Human nature is not a machine to be built after a model, and set to do exactly the work prescribed for it, but a tree, which requires to grow and develope itself on all sides, according to the tendency of the inward forces which make it a living thing." The author here freely criticizes the Victorian culture of "Christian self-denial". A work that remains influential in modern politics and statecraft. Very Good or better. Item #000016819
Light wear to the crown and foot of the spine, the corners gently rubbed, the first few and last few leaves foxed.
Price: $3,000.00