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This volume is the revised edition of Hutcheson’s Inquiry into the Original of Beauty and Virtue prepared for the series Natural Law and Enlightenment Classics. The first edition was sold out by mid-2006. Since then, more variants among the four different editions from the author’s lifetime have been discovered, misprints and errata of the first edition have been compiled, and the entire text has been revised and edited anew. In the paragraphs following, an asterisk (*) indicates the additional versions that have now been taken into account.
The Editions
During Hutcheson’s lifetime, four different editions of the Inquiry into the Original of Beauty and Virtue were published. These editions are chronologically referred to as A, B, C, and D. The texts of B, C, and D not only contain corrections but also introduce alterations and additions by the author. A separate booklet titled Alterations and Additions was published in 1726 “by the Author” (i.e., Hutcheson); it is listed below (after A3) by this title. The present edition is based on the second edition (B) from 1726; it presents the variants of the other editions and of the aforementioned Alterations and Additions in a critical apparatus. The second edition was chosen for its philosophical relevance. Although the later editions display further additions and corrections, these are mostly of philological importance.
Several versions of the first edition (A) and fourth edition (D) exist. In the eighteenth century it was common practice to intervene in the process of printing to correct misprints and to introduce changes. In many cases some copies containing uncorrected sheets or leaves were sold nevertheless. That practice produced at least three versions of the first edition and four versions of the fourth. Arabic numerals are used to mark the variants (A1, A2, A3; D1, D2, D3, D4); whenever all four versions of the fourth edition are identical, they are referred to as D (without an Arabic numeral). So far no additional versions of editions B and C have been discovered.
A1: The first edition was published in London in 1725: “Printed by J. Darby in Bartholomew Close, for Will. and John Smith on the Blind Key in Dublin; and sold by W. and J. Innys at the West End of St. Paul’s Churchyard, J. Osborn and T. Longman in Pater-Noster-Row, and S. Chandler in the Poultry.”
Copies used for editing A1: (a) University of Aberdeen, Queen Mother Library, shelf mark pi 1929 Hut i; (b) British Library, shelf mark 526.k.22 (reprinted in facsimile as volume 1 of Collected Works of Francis Hutcheson, edited by Bernard Fabian, 7 vols., Hildesheim, 1969, 1971; also available as a digital facsimile from Eighteenth Century Collections Online, http://www.gale.com/EighteenthCentury/); (c) University of Oxford, Bodleian Library, shelf mark 80 Z 80 Jur.; (d) Cambridge University Library, Rare Books Department, shelf mark Hh.15.63. Other copies (not seen except for the photocopied title page): (e) University of Birmingham, Main Library, Special Collections, shelf mark Wigan B 1501.I7; (f) University of Glasgow, Special Collection, shelf mark Sp. Coll. 986.1
*A2: This version of the first edition was published in London in 1725. It differs from A1 in three instances and from A3 in two: (a) The title page does not display the paragraph referring to Shaftesbury, Mandeville, and the “attempt to introduce a mathematical calculation in subjects of morality” and instead displays the subtitles of the two treatises: “I. Concerning Beauty, Order, Harmony, Design.” and “II. Concerning Moral Good and Evil.” (b) In the last paragraph of the title page the first names of the printer and the booksellers are printed in full except for the last one, and one name (T. Longman) is omitted: “Printed by John Darby in Bartholomew Close, for William and John Smith on the Blind Key in Dublin; and sold by William and John Innys at the West End of St. Paul’s Churchyard, John Osborn in Pater-Noster-Row, and Sam. Chandler in the Poultry.” (c) Finally, on page 216, line 31 it displays, as does A3, “appears” instead of the plural “appear”: “Our Misery and Distress appears immediately in our Countenance.. . .”
Copies used for editing *A2: (a) National Library of Scotland, Edinburgh, shelf mark RB.s.916; other copies (not seen except for the photocopied title page and page 216): (b) Warwick University, Special Collections, shelf mark B 1501.I6; (c) McGill University Library, Montreal, Rare Book Division, McLennan Building, shelf mark BJ604 H8 1725.
*A3: This version of the first edition was published in London in 1725. It differs from A1 in two instances: (a) In the last section of the title page, containing the names of the printer and the booksellers, the first bookseller (William and John Smith on the Blind Key in Dublin) is printed as “WIL.” (one “L” instead of two): “Printed by J. Darby in Bartholomew Close, for Wil. and John Smith on the Blind Key in Dublin; and sold by W. and J. Innys at the West End of St. Paul’s Churchyard, J. Osborn and T. Longman in Pater-Noster-Row, and S. Chandler in the Poultry.” (b) On page 216, line 31 an “appears” is displayed as in A2: “Our Misery and Distress appears immediately in our Countenance.. . .”
Copies used for editing *A3: (a) University of Aberdeen, Special Libraries and Archives, shelf mark GY 1571 Hut; (b) Yale University, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, shelf mark K8 H97 b725; (c) Harvard University, Houghton Library, Special Collections (facsimile printed by microfilm/xerocopy in 1985 by University Microfilm International, Ann Arbor, Michigan), shelf mark EC7 H9706 725i, facsimile obtained from Staatsbibliothek Preußischer Kulturbesitz, Berlin, registration number 701276.
*Alterations and Additions, Made in the Second Edition of the Inquiry into Beauty and Virtue, by the Author [i.e., Francis Hutcheson], [no place, no printer] 1726 [reprinted in: Francis Hutcheson, Collected Works, ed. B. Fabian, pp. 277–308]. Copy used for editing: British Museum, shelf mark 116.i.18.
B: The second edition “corrected and enlarg’d” was published in London in 1726: “Printed for J. Darby, A. Bettesworth, F. Fayram, J. Pemberton, C. Rivington, J. Hooke, F. Clay, J. Batley, and E. Symon.”
Copies used for editing B: (a) British Library, shelf mark 8413.b.6 (also available as a digital facsimile from Eighteenth Century Collections Online); (b) Yale University, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, shelf mark BJ1005 H88 (reprinted by Garland Publishers, New York, 1971).2
C: The third edition “corrected” was published in London in 1729: “Printed for J. and J. Knapton, J. Darby, A. Bettesworth, F. Fayram, J. Pemberton, J. Osborne and T. Longman, C. Rivington, F. Clay, J. Batley, and A. Ward.”
Copies used for editing C: (a) British Library, shelf mark 526.k.23 (also available as a digital facsimile from Eighteenth Century Collections Online); (b) Deutsche Zentralbibliothek für Wirtschafts wissenschaften, Kiel (Germany), shelf mark I 14829.
*D1: The first version of the fourth edition was published in London in 1738: “Printed for D. Midwinter, A. Bettesworth, and C. Hitch, J. and J. Pemberton, R. Ware, C. Rivington, F. Clay, A. Ward, J. and P. Knapton, T. Longman, R. Hett, and J. Wood.”
Copies used for editing *D1: (a) University of Edinburgh, Main Library, Special Collections, shelf mark D.S.g.1.33; (b) University of Oxford, Bodleian Library, shelf mark Godw. Octavo. 534; (c) Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, Baker-Berry Library, shelf mark B1604.H8 1738.
D2: The second version of the fourth edition was also published in London in 1738: “Printed for D. Midwinter, A. Bettesworth, and C. Hitch, J. and J. Pemberton, R. Ware, C. Rivington, F. Clay, A. Ward, J. and P. Knapton, T. Longman, R. Hett, and J. Wood.” While D1 is largely a reset version of C, D2 differs considerably