Of the Origin and Progress of Language.

BURNETT, James, Lord Monboddo.

Published by Edinburgh: Printed for J. Balfour; and T. Cadell, London 1774-92

About this Item

First editions of vol. II-VI, second edition of vol. I; the complete set - published over near two decades - of Burnett's vast study of language, the first major British contribution to the enlightenment debate on the subject. The work is one of the major 18th century studies of language, challenging many of the prevailing philosophical ideas and maintaining "that the faculty of speech is not the gift of nature to man, but, like many others, is acquired by him; that not only there must have been society before language was invented, but that it must have subsisted a considerable time, and other arts have been invented, before this most difficult one was found out; which appears to me of so difficult invention, that it is not easy to account how it could at all have been invented" (p. 12). This work was much ridiculed in England; Johnson said that "Monboddo does not know that he is talking nonsense". Along with Harris' Hermes, it was one of the main targets for Tooke in The Diversions of Purley. But Monboddo was better appreciated in Germany, where Herder wrote a Preface for a translation. Alston records that volumes I and III were reprinted in 1774 and 1786 when the publishers discovered that they had not printed a sufficient number, resulting in various combinations of mixed sets (as here); to find a complete set in a uniform contemporary binding is most unusual. Alston, III, 842; ESTC T42128 (vol. I); T42127 (vols. II-VI). 6 vols, octavo (215 x 127 mm). Portrait frontispiece in 6th vol. Contemporary quarter calf, spines lettered in gilt, marbled sides; vols. V and VI rebacked to style. Bookplate of Lord Sandys to front pastedowns. Restoration to joints and extremities with superficial splits remaining, some darkening at foot of spines, contents with some intermittent foxing but generally clean. A very good set.

Seller Inventory # 146861

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Of the Origin and Progress of Language.
• Publisher: Edinburgh: Printed for J. Balfour; and T. Cadell, London 1774-92
• Edition: 1st Edition