Godwin, William:

ENQUIRY CONCERNING POLITICAL JUSTICE, AND ITS INFLUENCE ON MORALS AND HAPPINESS. FIRST AMERICAN FROM THE SECOND LONDON EDITION. CORRECTED.

Philadelphia: Printed by Bioren and Madan, 1796. 12mo. Two volumes, each with the half title. Volume I: xvi, [1], 22-362 pp. Volume II: viii, 400 pp. Light foxing. Bound in modern cloth, gilt-lettered spine titles and gilt spine bands. Very Good. With contemporary ownership signatures of Jonas Ingham and Alpheus Highland;

The Enquiry "was one of the earliest, the clearest, and most absolute theoretical expressions of socialist and anarchist doctrines. Godwin believed that the motives of all human action were subject to reason, that reason taught benevolence, and that therefore all rational creatures could live in harmony without laws and institutions...." [PMM].
"Through his influence on Thompson and Owen, Godwin contributed greatly to the early socialist movement in America. His opposition to revolution has caused him to be disdained by modern radicals" [Adams].
FIRST AMERICAN EDITION. Evans 30493. Printing and the Mind of Man 243. Adams, Radical Literature in America 40. Cohen 5765. Item #39981

Price: $1,250.00