BIB_ID
408949
Accession number
MA 9198.13
Creator
Caird, John, 1820-1898.
Display Date
[1887?] August 11.
Credit line
Purchased by Pierpont Morgan, 1908.
Description
1 item (3 pages) ; 20.4 x 12.7 cm
Notes
Acquired as part of a large collection of letters addressed to William Angus Knight, Chair of Moral Philosophy at the University of St. Andrews and Wordsworth scholar. Items in the collection have been individually accessioned and cataloged.
The year of writing is not provided, however the letter discusses issues related to his book "Spinoza" which was published by Blackwood and Sons in 1888 as part of a series edited by Professor Knight and titled "Philosophical Classics for English Readers. The year of writing may be 1887. It should be noted, however, that with the publication of the volume on Leibniz in 1884, Blackwood lists the volumes "In Preparation" which includes Caird's volume on Spinoza.
Written on the stationery of The University, Glasgow, however that was been crossed through and "Hornby House, Fountain Street, / Buxton" written above it.
The year of writing is not provided, however the letter discusses issues related to his book "Spinoza" which was published by Blackwood and Sons in 1888 as part of a series edited by Professor Knight and titled "Philosophical Classics for English Readers. The year of writing may be 1887. It should be noted, however, that with the publication of the volume on Leibniz in 1884, Blackwood lists the volumes "In Preparation" which includes Caird's volume on Spinoza.
Written on the stationery of The University, Glasgow, however that was been crossed through and "Hornby House, Fountain Street, / Buxton" written above it.
Provenance
Purchased by Pierpont Morgan from William Angus Knight, 1908.
Summary
Explaining his editorial choices in his book on Spinoza; saying he is sorry to hear Knight has been unwell and fears he has added to his troubles; saying "My solution of the difficulty is simply that I, seeing I have, however unwittingly, failed to implement the conditions of the work, forego, & I quite willingly do so, the honorarium therefore. The £100 will, I s'd think, defray the cost of the additional pages. The other solution, that of further maiming the book, I hope you will not be angry with me if I say, i cannot consent to. I have left out the Life, & included in it was an examination of Spinoza's correspondence, which contained matter in some measure intended to prepare for the exposition of the Philosophy. In the latter I have left out what is almost essential to the plan, an examination of the 'De Deo et Homine' which may be regarded as a kind of study for the 'Ethics'. I have further left out any treatment of S.'s social & political notions, which though the subject of an independent treatise, are expressly dealt with in the Ethics. To leave out any more would make the book quite imperfect. I daresay you will suggest omitting the review of Jewish & other earlier writers. but it has been very frequently maintained that what Spinoza did not owe to Descartes he got from the Kabbala & early Jewish philosophers. If there is any freshness in my poor production, it is in this part of it, & it is moreover quite necessary to the understanding of the point of view from which I deal with the Ethics. Even if I could contemplate a bigger book on Spinoza, which is for me an impossibility, the smaller one cannot be any further reduced. The fiasco is not due to carelessness, for I have honestly done my best to fulfill the conditions of the series, & I can do no more without spoiling the book, poor as at the best I sincerely believe it to be. I think you & Blackwood should therefore accept the above solution, which implies no serious loss to me & which is certainly due to the publisher by reason of my exceeding the limits of the plan. I will be greatly pleased if you will kindly persuade him to accept my proposal."
Catalog link
Department