(London: For T. Cadell Jun. and W. Davies, and W. Creech in Edinburgh, 1795).

SCARCE FIRST EDITION of the posthumously published essays of Adam Smith. Though thought of today primarily as an economist due to the fame of his WEALTH OF NATIONS, these essays demonstrate the diverse range of philosophical sciences to which Smith applied himself. They were arranged and edited by his close friends James Black and William Hutton. Black and Hutton had attended to Smith in his old age and had made his literary executors. Shortly before his death, Smith had forced them to burn the vast majority of his unpublished papers, over sixteen volumes worth of manuscripts. These few which remained were intended, according to the editors, as “parts of a connected history of the liberal sciences and elegant arts", but that Smith had "long since ... found it necessary to abandon that plan as far too extensive". The range over fields as diverse as philosophy, aesthetics, the history of science, astronomy, physics, metaphysics, music, and sensory perception. Most of them were originally written prior to 1759, long before his remarkable success with WEALTH OF NATIONS.
Stewart’s account of Smith’s life was the first biography written of him and remains an important source. It was originally delivered as a series of lectures at the Royal Society of Edinburgh. Item #23048

First Edition. 4to, in a handsome and correct period style binding of three-quarter calf over marbled boards. The spine with raised bands gilt ruled and with chain device in gilt, red morocco label ruled, stippled and lettered in gilt, additional gilt lettering in two other compartments, edges dyed. xcv, 244 pp. xcv, [1, blank], 244 pp. A(4), a(4)-l(4), B(4)-Z(4), AA(4)-II(2) A fine fresh copy, quite clean and crisp, the binding in excellent condition, small and unobtrusive blank embossed exlibris on the top corners of several signatures.