Bergson: An Exposition and Criticism from the Point of View of St Thomas Aquinas

First edition, 1913. Original blue cloth with gilt lettering to the front board and spine and blind-ruled borders to the boards. xii, 208 pp. Published in London and Edinburgh by Sands & Company, with B. Herder of St Louis, Missouri, also named on the title page. The volume carries the contemporary ecclesiastical approvals "Nihil obstat" and "Imprimatur," dated Westminster, 15 May 1913. Thomas J. Gerrard's study examines Henri Bergson's philosophy explicitly from the standpoint of St Thomas Aquinas, addressing Bergson's philosophy of change, intuitive method, freedom, finalism and divine fecundity. Published while Bergson occupied a conspicuous position in European intellectual life, the book documents an interesting early encounter between Bergsonian philosophy and the Thomistic tradition. Its 1913 publication places it within the contemporaneous reception of Bergson rather than the extensive retrospective literature which followed, giving the work particular interest within the intellectual history of early twentieth-century philosophy. Original blue cloth remains firm, with gilt lettering clear. Light rubbing and wear to the extremities, with a few small marks to the cloth. External paper edges age-toned. Endpapers tanned. Former owner's signature in pencil to the front pastedown, with one small pencil mark to the facing free endpaper. Otherwise entirely unmarked throughout, with no ink or pencil markings anywhere else. Binding sound and boards firmly attached. In sum, the condition points requiring mention are the light exterior rubbing and wear with a few small marks to the cloth; age-toning to the external paper edges; tanning to the endpapers; and the pencil signature to the front pastedown together with the single small pencil mark on the facing free endpaper. Otherwise the book is entirely unmarked throughout, the binding is sound, the gilt remains clear, and overall this is a Very Good copy of the 1913 first edition.…