The Lysander Spooner Reader - Softcover

Spooner, Lysander; Smith, George H.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0930073266 ISBN 13: 9780930073268

Publisher: Fox & Wilkes, 1992

Synopsis

Lysander Spooner (1808-1887) was one of the great individualists of his era. He practiced law in violation of state law and then successfully petitioned to change the law. When the United States Post Office claimed a monopoly on first-class mail, Spooner opened a competing agency that forced the post office to lower its rates. Spooner was a great opponent of slavery but at odds with many abolitionists of his day. He defended reason, natural law, and individual freedom. Also included are a foreword by Sheldon Richman, an introduction by George H. Smith, and an obituary written by Spooner's compatriot, Benjamin Tucker (1854-1939), originally published in Tucker's newspaper, Liberty, May 28, 1887. Lysander Spooner was one of the most important early libertarian thinkers in the individualist tradition. Even after a full century his work is amazingly relevant today.

About this title

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

from the Introduction by George H. Smith

Somewhere, sometime a person will open this book not knowing what to expect, but curious about a man with the curious name of Lysander Spooner. I envy that reader, for that was me nearly twenty-five years ago when I encountered No Treason: The Constitution of No Authority.

I could scarcely believe my eyes. Here were ideas radical yet commensensical, subversive yet quintessentially American. Spooner challenged and excited me. Such experiences are rare because truly original thinkers are rare, and you can discover them but once. Alas, my days of innocent discovery are over, the casualty of too much reading. I have read libertarian writers so obscure that even obscure libertarians have never heard of them. I doubt if my future holds many surprises, but it does hold many pleasures. This is one of them: introducing others to Lysander Spooner.

Review

It has been nearly 20 years since I read Spooner in high school, and my life has not been the same since. After wrestling with Spooner's tightly reasoned arguments against the state in "No Treason: The Constitution of No Authority," you'll never look at the government the same way again.

Lawyer, abolitionist, radical, friend of liberty, one of the most fascinating figures in American history: that was Spooner. A ferocious opponent of slavery, he supported the right of secession. An ardent enemy of statist legislation, he was a brilliant jurist who put his faith in the law. An eloquent foe of prohibition of alcohol or drugs, he offered a moral defense of liberty.

Includes "Vices Are Not Crimes," "Natural Law," "Trial by Jury," "Letter to Thomas Bayard," "No Treason," and the eulogy for Spooner by American individualist-anarchist publisher Benjamin Tucker. -- Tom G. Palmer

Edition details

• Publisher: Fox & Wilkes
• Publication date: 1992
• ISBN 10: 0930073266
• ISBN 13: 9780930073268
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 343