The Antiquity and Duration of the World

Descripción

Original calf gilt, marbled boards. Originally published in 1785 this work was regarded as blasphemous by the established church as it questioned biblical accounts of the origin of the world and humankind. Toulmin (1754 ? July 1817) was an English physician and writer who examined geology and planetary history. He was among the first to suggest that the earth was undergoing constant change, contrary to Aristotelian ideas of a planet unchanged since creation. A very scarce item from the heroic days of Richard Carlile's publishing enterprise. Carlile was a republican, feminist and atheist who was prepared to advocate revolution and who attracted a considerable, mainly working class, following. During his time he republished the works of Thomas Paine (and served six years imprisonment for his trouble) and other works deemed to be blasphemous, revolutionary and obscene such as this. He stood on the platform at Peterloo with Henry Hunt when the yeomanry charged and wrote and published a birth control manual which advocated free love. Carlile makes his purpose clear in the introduction which is to rescue the book from its "suppressed state". The edges and hinges are rubbed and the front hinge is tender but holding. A previous owner's name (Robt. Waite of Mount Street?) is in the prelims and a 5 page handwritten essay, on volcanoes, is included on some blank leaves in the same elegant hand. Intriguingly the publisher and printer's name (Carlile) is blacked out by hand, but can be clearly read by holding the book to the light. N° de ref. del artículo 010539

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