[ii], xii, 288pp., 8vo. With the half-title, errata on the verso. An exceptional, entirely untrimmed copy in the original blue stiff wrappers, backstrip with manuscript title "Campbell on Miracles"; upper cover worn at corners. Ownership inscription "Anne Duff Hatton Lodge 1763" on title (see below). In a folding cloth box with a gilt spine label. First edition, this copy of particular interest not only as a survival in original state, but also by virtue of its original owner having been an accomplished Scotswoman. Anne Duff and her husband Alexander rebuilt the Hatton estate and its lodge into significant examples of Scottish landscape and architecture, on which, as Anne wrote in 1788, "I have laid out so much money." She proved a formidable opponent when younger members of her family tried to displace her from Hatton Lodge, and she retained it until her death in 1805 at the age of eighty. Clearly she took an interest in the Scottish philosophical controversies of the day, among which David Hume s argument against the veracity of miracles, first published in 1748, was perhaps paramount. Hume rejected all testimonial claims concerning miraculous events as inherently unbelievable. Campbell, however, noted that the positive testimony of a reliable witness is superior even to the indirect body of evidence supporting the laws of nature, which are themselves founded on human testimony. Campbell at the time was generally considered the winner of the argument; one wishes that Anne Duff had annotated her copy with her own views on the subject.

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Bibliographic Details

Title: A Dissertation on Miracles: Containing An Examination of the Principles advanced by David Hume, Esq; In an Essay on Miracles.
Publisher: Edinburgh: Printed for A. Kincaid & J. Bell, 1762.
Binding: Soft cover
Edition: 1st Edition

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Specialist dealer, selling online and at book fairs only: antiquarian and rare books, especially English literature and children's books printed before 1850, including poetry, fiction, philosophy, social history, criticism and literary controversies. Member ABAA and ILAB.

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Stuart Bennett Rare Books, ABAA/ILAB
CT, U.S.A.

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All books offered are understood to be sent on approval, and may be returned within a reasonable time, which I usually interpret to mean thirty days, but can be longer when the occasion warrants. My seller details are: Stuart Bennett Rare Books, P.O. Box 395, Essex, Connecticut 06426 USA, e-mail stuart@sbrarebooks.com

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