A review of the principal questions in morals. Particularly those respecting the original of our ideas of virtue, its nature, relation to the Deity, obligation, subject matter, and sanctions.

The third edition corrected, and enlarged by an appendix, containing additional notes, and a dissertation on the Being and the attributes of the Deity. Printed for T Cadell. London. 1787. 8vo. vii, 512pp, 3pp publisher's adverts. Later full calf, spine in 6 compartments with raised bands, blind tooling, leather label and gilt lettering. Signature to title page. The first work by Price, Richard (1723 - 1791) FRS, philosopher, demographer, and political radical. He studied under Vavasor Griffiths at Chancefield, Talgarth. His writings in defence of the American patriots led to an invitation to advise congress conveyed to him by Benjamin Franklin, Arthur Lee, and John Adams. A member of the intellectual societies the Bowood Group and Benjamin Franklin's 'Club of Honest Whigs'. The journal Enlightenment and Dissent remains a focus for the study of Price's thought. This is his first work: the third edition, being greatly enlarged.

Provenance: Signature of William Torrence (slightly cropped) to upper margin of title page. Probably the William Torrence the thirteenth member of the Speculative Society in 1764, ordained July 1788 and afterwards Minister of the Parish of Glencross, Edinburghshire. Robert Louis Stevenson in a letter to Frances Sitwell dated 4 July 1875 "The small kirkyard is full of old gravestones…in church old Mr Torrence preached, over eighty and a relic of times forgotten". William Torrence and the church appear in R.L.S. last unfinished book, The Weir of Hermiston. ESTC T44902