London: by Eliz. Holt, for Thomas Basset, 1690. First edition. London: by Eliz. Holt, for Thomas Basset, 1690. First edition. First edition, first issue, with the Holt imprint. Locke worked for nearly two decades on his investigation of “the certainty and the adequacy of human knowledge” (PMM), and the resulting landmark work influenced many Enlightenment philosophers. Folio (318 x 192 mm). Contemporary speckled calf, red morocco label, covers bordered in blind, edges speckled red. 19th-century shelf label at head of spine. Skillful restoration at extremities, leaf D2 with defective inner margin resulting in a number of missing words, supplied in manuscript in early hand. A few splashes and scratches to covers else well-preserved, contents a little toned else clean: an excellent copy.

Provenance: inscription to front free endpaper “Robert Kirktowne London: 1698” (a Robert Kirktowne is recorded as a naval surgeon in the period), and 18th-century inscription to the front pastedown “Ex libris Gulielmi Byrd MTS”. This is possibly William Byrd I (1652-1704) or his son William Byrd II (1674-1744), large landowners in Virginia. The latter studied at Middle Temple in London, perhaps explaining the MTS initials.

A monolith in the landscape of philosophical treatises, Locke was the first “to attempt to estimate critically the certainty and the adequacy of human knowledge when confronted with God and the universe,” and concludes that man has a means of controlling his own destiny and is thus not the pure victim of chance (PMM 164). He advanced the concept of people born “tabula rasa,” and filled through their lives by experiences. This concept formed the basis for the empiricist camp in modern philosophy, later expanded by Hume and Berkeley. An Essay was placed on the Catholic Index Librorum Prohibitorum in 1700 for its controversial content, where it remained for over 250 years (Height).

Attig 228; ESTC R22993; Garrison-Morton 4967; Grolier English 36; Grolier One Hundred 72; Pforzheimer 599; PMM 164; Hook & Norman 1380; Wing L-2738; Yolton 61A. (Item #5942)