Quiddities: An Intermittently Philosophical Dictionary ** SIGNED **

Quine, W. V.

ISBN 10: 0674743512 / ISBN 13: 9780674743519

Published by Belknap Press at Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA and London, 1987

About this Item

249 pp. Same Date and '1' in number line. Index, 243-249. Taupe cloth with brilliant silver lettering on spine and top half front cover; teal endpapers. Soft crease to board beneath taupe cloth at top right corner front cover (barely looks bumped, although the dw is wrinkled, looking much more bumped than the book itself); soft crease across bottom right corner of teal ffep (NO echoing forward); 2 1/2" soft crease on the diagonal, beginning at the rear flyleaf top edge at 2" to right of top corner rear flyleaf and echoing forward to about (faintly) p. 175: describes worse than it is, but there you have it. These flaws are undoubtedly explained by there being a 10.00 ink price at top left rear flyleaf, which is known to be the price mark of the "hurt books" for sale at the Harvard University Press retail outlet in the Holyoke Building in Harvard Square (now, January, 2021, long defunct);Otherwise, the book looks completely unread: tight binding (NO cracks); sharp corners (NO bumps besides the one cited at the top right front cover corner); NO rubbing wear. Clean text. Glossy taupe dustwrapper not price-clipped ($20.00) with cited wrinkles at top right front cover corner; sunned spine (All lettering in black, sharp and distinct, only publisher name in smaller teal lettering diminished, but still easily readable; 1/2" closed tear up from lower front cover edge at 2" to right of bottom right spine corner; 1/4" closed tear near mid-point of top rear cover edge: tears have been backed by Archival tape and dw has been put in Brodart mylar, which graciously forgives these several sins. Quine's gift inscription, "with warms regards", on half-title page verso, and signed 'Van Quine'. Despite surface flaws of a HUP "hurt book," this is still a solid copy and rare signed one. (Extra shipping charges will be required for insurance and expedited shipping).

Seller Inventory # 002281

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Quiddities: An Intermittently Philosophical Dictionary ** SIGNED **
• Publisher: Belknap Press at Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA and London
• Publication Date: 1987
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0674743512
• ISBN 13: 9780674743519
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition: 1st Edition
• Condition: Near Fine
• Dust Jacket Condition: Near Fine
• Signed: Signed by Author(s)

About this title

Synopsis

The appellation "polymath" is often lightly bestowed, but it can be applied with confidence to the celebrated philosopher Willard Van Orman Quine. Quine's areas of interest are panoramic, as this lively book amply demonstrates.

Moving from A (alphabet) to Z (zero), Quiddities roams through more than eighty topics, each providing a full measure of piquant thought, wordplay, and wisdom, couched in easy and elegant prose--"Quine at his unbuttoned best," in Donald Davidson's words. Philosophy, language, and mathematics are the subjects most fully represented; tides of entries include belief, communication, free will, idiotisms, longitude and latitude, marks, prizes, Latin pronunciation, tolerance, trinity. Even the more technical entries are larded with homely lore, anecdote, and whimsical humor.

Quiddities will be a treat for admirers of Quine and for others who like to think, who care about language, and who enjoy the free play of intellect on topics large and small. For this select audience, it is an ideal book for browsing.

About the Author

W. V. Quine was Edgar Pierce Professor of Philosophy, Harvard University. He wrote twenty-one books, thirteen of them published by Harvard University Press.