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FILMER, ROBERT (1588-1653), Free-holders Grand Inquest, Touching Our Sovereign Lord the King and His Parliament. To which are added Observations upon Forms of Government. Together with Directions for Obedience to Governours in Dangerous and Doubtful Times.
London: no publisher, 1680. 4th Edition. [First published 1647]. [14], 88, [12], 89-164, [8], 165-236, [6], 237-292, [6], 293-326pp. + inserted frontis portrait of Charles II. Signatures: A2-Z8. Aa3. 20th century 1/2 polished maroon calf with marbled boards, decorative gilt spine, and gilt top edge. A1 & Aa4 (blank) lacking, even light browning, otherwise a near fine copy with light rubbing to the bottom edge of the boards. Uncommon. The last chapter (pages [293]-326) is "An Advertisement to the Jury-Men of England Touching Witches," in which Filmer takes issue with the methods of some of the earlier "witch-finders for determining whether a person is a witch. In particular he questions the reasoning of William Perkins, a religious zealot whose Discourse on the Damned Art of Witchcraft was considered by many rural magistrates as completely authoritative. This first appeared in 1653 without Filmer's name [See Coumont Demonology and Witchcraft: An Annotated Bibliography F33.1]. Wing F915. 15.0 ounces = 427 grams. 7.4 x 4.6 x 1.0 inches = 18.5 x 11.5 x 2.5cm. Knighted by Charles I at the beginning of his reign, Filmer strident defended the absolute divine right of kings, founding his theory upon the idea that the government of a family by the father is the true original model for all government. He articulated his theory in a number of works -- the 1648 Anarchy of a Limited and Mixed Monarchy (an attack on Philip Hunton's treatise on monarchy, which held that the king's prerogative is not superior to the authority of parliament); the pamphlet The Power of Kings; the 1648 King of England (not published until 1680); and his 1652 Observations concerning the Originall of Government upon Mr Hobbes's Leviathan ... In the Free-Holders Grand Inquest he asserted that the Lords only give counsel to the king, the Commons only perform and consent to the ordinances of parliament, and the king alone is the maker of laws, which proceed purely from his will. The most complete exposition of Filmer's views is to be found in the 1680 Patriarchia, or the Natural Power of Kings, published decades after his death. Locke singled out Filmer as the most remarkable of the proponents of Divine Right and rebutted his arguments in great detail in the Two Treatises of Government. Binding: HB.
Offered for US$ 1200.00 by: John Gach Books - Book number: 082159
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