Modes Thought, Signed (2 results)

See his entry, and that of his sister, in the Oxford DNB. 4pp, 12mo. Fifty-eight lines of text. Signed 'James Martineau.' On biofolium. In good condition, lightly aged and folded twice for postage. A very good letter, filled with matter. He begins by conceding that there is 'ground for displeasure of some of my fellow-believers' in his 'paper in the "Christian Reformer": 'that the description it gives of the Unitarian modes of thought does not invariably fit to the more recent phases of feeling & conception'. He explains that he had to 'characterise a type of theological belief well marked through both the early ages & the Church and more than one development of the Reformation', and in doing so had to employ 'a language which should hold true of the literature and history as a whole'. In the final two-thirds of the letter he refers to 'the writings of Channing', 'happy deflections', 'unhappy defections [.] through the diffusion of a Science that mistakes itself for Omniscience', 'evangelical preachers' and 'the question of pulpit interchanges' ('There are professed Unitarians whom nothing would induce me to invite to my pulpit, if I had one, and with whom I could avow no religious fellowship.') He concludes by summing up the matter: 'the healthy rule is to give free play to the real and natural spiritual affinities, and pay no heed to the insinuations and frowns of dogmatic purists'.

Paperback. Condition: Very Good. First Edition. Wraps. 11 pages ; 23 cm Printed on cover: "For private circulation only." Off white wraps printed black. Stapled at spine. Slight tanning, staples slightly rusted; VG. Signed presentation from the author on cover 'David Higham from Lance Whyte.' David Higham literary agent who established the David Higham prize. Only one copy found at WorldCat (OCLC) the worldĠs largest library catalogue. A rare signature. 'LANCELOT LAW WHYTE (1896-1972) was a Scottish philosopher, theoretical physicist, historian of science and financier. He claimed to have worked with Albert Einstein on the unified field theory. He further claimed that this work was based on the theory of the 18th century natural philosopher Roger Boscovich. Whyte proposed something he called the unitary principle to unify physics theories. Whyte was the author of the book Internal Factors in Evolution (1968). He proposed that Darwin's theory of natural selection is limited to external factors, and internal factors are a second directive agency in evolution. In 2014 the philosopher Hans-Joachim Niemann wrote about Whyte: "Whyte's ideas were beyond the long-established tracks but do not sound too far-fetched today.". Signedes.