The Substitution of Similars, The True Principle of Reasoning, Derived from a Modification of Aristotle's Dictum.

First edition of the philosopher's most popular work, an intentionally accessible analysis of what he judged "the great and universal principle of all reasoning" (ODNB). Jevons's work on logic formed a key part of the wider 19th-century movement to link the discipline with mathematics. After several years focussing on political economy, Jevons began thinking seriously again about logic at the end of 1866, working to graft some developments on to the modified system of Boolean calculus that he had published in 1863. The Substitution of Similars presents the essence of his logical philosophy to "the judgement of those interested in logical science" (ODNB). Inoue & White 98. Octavo. Diagram frontispiece, 42-page Macmillan catalogue dated May 1870 at rear. Original pebble grain blue cloth, spine lettered in gilt, covers panelled in blind, edges sprinkled red. Housed in custom red cloth solander box. Library stamp of Herbert Maynard Smith (1869-1949) and J. Outram Smith (1871-1954) to front free endpaper. Light bumping and rubbing, remnants of shelfmark to foot of spine, minor damp-staining to endpapers, a couple of spots of finger-soiling to contents: a very good copy.…