[DREAMS, etc.] FORMEY, [Johann Heinrich Samuel, or Jean Henri SamueL, 1711-1797]. Philosophical Miscellanies on Various Subjects. To which is prefixed, an account of the author, and his works, by himself. London: J. Hinton, 1759. 12mo. x, [2, contents with blank verso], 286, [2, ads] pp. Contemporary speckled calf, rebacked. Gilt spine with burgundy morocco label. FIRST EDITION IN ENGLISH.
Condition
Some wear, scuffing to boards, hinges repaired, endleaves offset and soiled, text toned with occasional soiling, creasing. Very good.
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On the front pastedown is the early ink signature of Henrietta Brownjohn, along with the name stamp of Mrs. Blackett, Citadel. On the front fly-leaf is an early ownership inscription of Francis Smith, with his cost for the book in code and the statement: "Altho' this book cost no more than as above, which private mark my son understands, yet I value it equal to its weight in gold." First published in Leyden in 1756 as Mélanges philosophiques. Formey (1711-97) was professor of philosophy at Berlin. He published a large number of articles in the transactions of the Berlin Academy and was the author of several theological and philosophical treatises, including a compendium of the philosophy of Christian Wolff (La belle Wolfienne, 1741-53), and several books on the writings of Rousseau (L'esprit de Julie, 1762; L'Anti-Emile, 1762; Emile chrtien, 1764.) He published a philosophical survey, which was translated by Oliver Goldsmith in 1766. The present work contains chapters on sleep, dreams, the art of conversation, moral liberty, the morality of charging interest, and "the logic of probabilities."