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[AESTHETICS]. GERARD, Alexander (1728-1795). An Essay on Taste. . . . With three dissertations on the same subject. By Mr. de Voltaire, Mr. d'Alembert

Estimate: $300 - $400
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[AESTHETICS]. GERARD, Alexander (1728-1795). An Essay on Taste. . . . With three dissertations on the same subject. By Mr. de Voltaire, Mr. d'Alembert, F.R.S., Mr. De Montesquieu. London: A. Millar... A. Kincaid and J. Bell, 1759. 8vo. iv, 222, [2] pp., pp. [223]-253, [1, blank], pp. [257]-314. Contemporary calf, old morocco label on front cover with the words, "Quebec Library." FIRST EDITION OF THE AUTHOR'S FIRST BOOK, A LANDMARK IN AESTHETIC THEORY, AWARDED A PRIZE BY THE PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETY OF EDINBURGH. 

Condition

Front board loose, rear joint starting, boards edgeworn, some soiling to binding, hinges starting, free endpapers missing, ink numerical stamp on fp., text toned, with occasional offsetting or foxing. Good. 

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Gerard (1728-95) taught moral philosophy at Aberdeen. It is a major Scottish discussion of aesthetics, and Hume supervised its publication. It influenced Alison and was admired by Adam Smith. John Price calls Gerard "one of the more interesting, but neglected, figures of the Scottish Enlightenment." (Dictionary of Eighteenth-Century British Philosophers). The important essays by Voltaire, d'Alembert, and Montesquieu, all appear here for the first time in English. Jessup, p. 131; CBEL II, 2065. 

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