The First English Work of Modern Sociology: First American Edition

FERGUSON, ADAM. An Essay on the History of Civil Society. Seventh Edition. Boston: Hastings, Etheridge and Bliss, 1809. First American edition. 8vo. 7, [1], 464 pp. Full contemp. calf, gilt rules, gilt stamped spine. Slight chipping at spinal extremities, hinges rubbed, title foxed. With the printed paper "sold by" label of Hilliard & Brown, Booksellers to the University, Cambridge, New England. A very good copy in an appealing period binding. $1,250.00

Ferguson's most important work, the first work of modern sociology, the first English work to substitute an inductive historical approach for theology and metaphysics. The work was well-received by Ferguson's contemporaries, with the exception of Hume who advised him not to publish it. "...his discussions of politics, economics, history, aesthetics, literature, and ethnology were a synthesis of the thought of the time. He emphasized the role of observation and treated his subject phenomenologically, not evaluatively." --EP. Hildeburn reports a 1773 Philadelphia edition by Bell, but no copies located. NUC does not record. Since no American edition is reported or located until this one, a 1773 edition seems dubious. S & S 17503, recording ten copies.