THE ART OF LOGICK; OR THE ENTIRE BODY OF LOGICK IN ENGLISH. Unfolding to the Meanest Capacity the Way to Dispute Well, and to Refute all Fallacies Whatsoever

Coke, Zachary [possible pseud. of Henry Ainsworth]

Published by Printed by Robert White for George Calvert, London, 1654

About this Item

Small octavo. [24], 222, [2 (blank)] pp. First edition. Backed in modern speckled calf with marbled paper over boards; spine is tooled in blind with gold-stamped morocco title label; a very elegant binding. Contents are generally toned, towards the edges of the leaves; some very fine pinhole worming to the upper margin of the first half of the book, offsetting to the endpaper from the original leather turn-ins; intermittent tidelines to the bottom portion of the textblock from very early moisture exposure, often faint when present; series of ownership markings including the the name of M. Bakewell on the front free endpaper; additionally, the half-title and title page are stamped, "S. Davies". All things considered, quite a presentable volume of this systematic, philosophical approach to the rigors of logical thought. The authorship is in question with some sources citing the author on the title page Zachary Coke, while others suggest it is Henry Ainsworth; others suggesting that the author borrowed heavily from Keckermann's Systema Logicae. Authorship aside, this present work is a significant contribution to the genre. Marco Sgarbi asserts that, "there is no doubt that Coke's logic was the most complete logical handbook in English written before Locke's Essay" (The Aristotelian Tradition & Rise of British Empiricism (2012) p. 198). ESTC and others suggest that this was probably printed in 1653. This copy appears to be a variant printing of the first edition as described by the University of Illinois, with line 32 of page 179 reading: "F acies" (instead of "Fallacies"). Additionally, final line of page 75 is improperly printed and largely lacking, a flaw identified by Harvard in their copy. Vertically printed half-title is present. Uncommon and important early handbook of logic. ESTC R9220 (variant). Seller Inventory # 7043

Bibliographic Details

Title: THE ART OF LOGICK; OR THE ENTIRE BODY OF ...

Publisher: Printed by Robert White for George Calvert, London

Publication Date: 1654

Binding: Quarter Leather

Condition: Good binding

Edition: 1st Edition