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TP + [i] = Advertisement to the Reader + [ii] = Errors + [iii]-[x] = Subscribers Names = 1-376, Quarto, First Edition. 2 binder's blank leaves + 1 original blank leaf + 1 leaf with Publisher's ads on the verso + TP + iii = Dedication page + v-x = Contents + 1-100 + Plate 1 (folding leaf) + 101-280 + 2 original blank leaves + 2 binder's blank leaves, Octavo. First Edition.An Enquiry into the Nature of the Human Soul is a philosophical and scientific work first published in 1733 (with an enlarged second edition in 1737 and a third in 1745). Here, Baxter, argues that all matter is inherently inactive, and that the soul and an omnipotent divine spirit are the animating principles of all life. In making this argument, Baxter is rejecting the beliefs of more atheistic and materialist thinkers such as Hobbes and Spinoza, as well as the immaterialist philosopher and clergyman George Berkeley, who believed that existence is not in the physical body, but in the capability of being perceived. Beyond the contribution made here to the ongoing 18th century arguments over the nature and existence of the soul, the book contains an influential chapter called An Essay on the Phenomenon of Dreaming. Baxter writes about how people, places and objects we have never seen before may seem familiar to us in a dream, and we seem to have a kind of knowledge in sleep that we lack in real life. Samuel Taylor Coleridge (among others) was deeply impressed by this chapter, later commenting that "I should not wonder if I found that Andrew [Baxter] had thought more on the subject of Dreams than any other of our Psychologists, Scotch or English." But not everyone was so enchanted with Baxter's Inquiry. It was, for instance, criticized by no one less than Benjamin Franklin who, in a letter, pointed out Baxter's lack of understand in mechanics. An Appendix, published 17 years later, was in answer to an attack in Maclaurin's Account of Sir I. Newton's Philosophical Discoveries. It further re-examines the properties of matter noting that the one essential property of matter is its inactivity. All movement in matter is, therefore, caused by some immaterial force, namely, God. But the movements of the body are not analogous to the movements of matter; they are caused by a special immaterial force, the soul.The first edition of the Enquiry is rare, having been privately printed for the author. An Enquiry has the contemporary full-leather boards with a (lightly) matching rebacked spine with six raised ribs, gilt outlining and gilt lettering on a red field for the spine titling. The corners are worn - most especially to the upper front - and there are some old white stains (paint?) to the rear cover. This a lovely, very wide margined copy of this genuinely uncommon first printing of Baxter's most important and discussed work. An Appenix is a half-leather, mid-20th century rebinding of the book with gray marbled boards, five ribs to the spine and gilt lettering on a red field. The text itself is remarkably good shape, again with relatively wide margins. Overall, a very presentable and collectible work. ADDITIONAL PHOTOS AVAILABLE UPON REQUEST.
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