细节
[WALLACE, Robert (1697-1771)]. A Dissertation on the Numbers of Mankind in Antient and Modern Times: in which the superior populousness of antiquity is maintained. Edinburgh: G. Hamilton and J. Balfour, 1753. 8° (199 x 121mm). Contemporary calf (spine rubbed and repaired at head, upper joints slightly split).
FIRST EDITION. As Wallace was completing his Dissertation in 1751, he showed it to fellow Philosophical Society member David Hume, who reciprocated with the essay published in the Political Discourses of 1752: 'Of the populousness of ancient nations.' Hume questioned the accuracy of population estimates in ancient sources, arguing for the superiority of modern assessments.Nevertheless, his essay included a graciously worded acknowledgement of debt to Wallace who published his Dissertation in the next year with an appendix addressing Hume's essay. 'This polite exchange was widely celebrated as a model for the pursuit of truth in an enlightened age' (ODNB). Goldsmiths' 8782; Higgs 619; Kress 5318.
FIRST EDITION. As Wallace was completing his Dissertation in 1751, he showed it to fellow Philosophical Society member David Hume, who reciprocated with the essay published in the Political Discourses of 1752: 'Of the populousness of ancient nations.' Hume questioned the accuracy of population estimates in ancient sources, arguing for the superiority of modern assessments.Nevertheless, his essay included a graciously worded acknowledgement of debt to Wallace who published his Dissertation in the next year with an appendix addressing Hume's essay. 'This polite exchange was widely celebrated as a model for the pursuit of truth in an enlightened age' (ODNB). Goldsmiths' 8782; Higgs 619; Kress 5318.