Essays.: On the nature and immutability of Truth, in opposition to Sophistry and Scepticism. On Poetry and Music, as they affect the Mind. On Laughter, and Ludicrous Composition. On the Utility of Classical Learning.

Edinburgh: printed for William Creech,, 1776. Common sense against Humean scepticism First edition of this collection by a significant Scottish Enlightenment figure, an opponent of David Hume's scepticism, and a poet counted among the earliest Romantics. Each essay in this collection appears here for the first time, except that on truth, which was first published in 1770 and is here revised and provided with a six-page preface. This edition is a lavish subscription quarto, whose list of subscribers includes the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Lord Chancellor, David Garrick, Samuel Johnson. James Beattie (1735-1803), professor of moral philosophy at the University of Aberdeen from 1760, is renowned as a prominent advocate of common-sense philosophy - a school which sought to legitimate the perceptions of the average, unsophisticated individual. The Essay on the Nature and Immutability of Truth, Beattie's first and most significant philosophical work, boldly proclaims that "common sense is the ultimate judge of truth" (p. 31) and so undermines Humean scepticism about the ultimate foundations of any such truth. Although Hume followed his policy of not engaging in direct disputes with his critics, the polemic annoyed him enough to label Beattie "that bigoted silly fellow" (quoted in Internet Encyclopaedia of Philosophy). As a poet, Beattie's two-part Minstrel (1771 & 1774), with its reflections on nature and the character of poetic genius, influenced Robert Burns, Walter Scott, and William Wordsworth. Provenance: Thomas Taylour, first Marquess of Headfort (1757-1829), with his armorial bookplate on the front pastedown. Quarto (261 x 196 mm). Contemporary calf, spine ruled, with floral decoration, and with red morocco label in gilt, raised bands. Light bumping and wear, cosmetic split to front inner hinge, minor browning and foxing to endpapers and edges, faint offsetting to contents: a very good copy.