Philosophy & Religion Books

New York: Praeger Publishers, 1990 IN VERY GOOD ++ CONDITION. SIGNED BY THE AUTHOR on the ffp. Slight bow to covers, occasional marginalia. BINDING & HINGES TIGHT.

Self-Published. Good+. 1997. 5th Revised Edition. Softcover. Both volumes have rubbing to edges of covers w/several creases and several small tears to spine corners, light toning to rear covers, red ink writing and underlining to text .

Allentown, Pa: Heinrich Ebner, 1820. Hardcover. Very Good. [8], 102, [2] p. [with: 134, [2] p.; 100, [2] p.]; 20 cm. Contemporary full calf with four spine compartments between gilt rules. All page edges yellow. Bound with, as usual, the author's Von Dreyerley Leben der Menschen (Allentown, 1820) and Einige christliches und lehrreiche Send-Briefe (Allentown, 1819). The German theologian Caspar Schwenckfeld von Ossig (1489-1561) was one of the earliest promoters of the Protestant Reformation in Silesia. In his writings he opposed war, secret societies, the taking of oaths, infant baptism, and the establishment of denominations. Groups of his followers, known as Schwenkfelders, came to Pennsylvania in the 1730s, leading to the establishment of the Society of Schwenkfelders in 1782 and the Schwenkfelder Church in 1909. First Cent. of German Lang. Printing in the U.S., 2400. Early Am. Imprints, 3123, 3124, 49374. In Very Good Condition: edges rubbed; foxing throughout; old dampstain on… Read More

London: W. Mallalieu & Co.. Good+. 1865. First Edition. Hardcover. Embossed blue cloth Has gilt title on spine. Portrait frontispiece. Text's interior is tight, clean and intact. Fraying at the spine ends and front corners. Folded down page corners. Inscription, "George C. Westphal from Bishop Levering's Library. Spine is slightly age darkened. Rear internal hinge re-glued. Uncommon copy. Religion; Portrait frontispiece.; 12mo 7" - 7½" tall; 414 pages .

Berlin: Friedrich Späthen, 1802. Hardcover. Very Good +. vi, 816 p.; 17 cm. Contemporary full calf with five spine compartments between raised bands. Gilt-tooled title in second compartment: Woltersdorfs Liederpsalmen. Blind-tooled decoration on both boards. All page edges gilt. Blind-tooled decoration on upper and lower page edges. Very unusual blue endpapers. Green ribbon bookmark. Woodcut title vignette and head-piece. Former owner inscription on blank leaf following front free endpaper, dated 1844. One of the most outstanding hymnists of Protestantism, Ernst Gottlieb Woltersdorf (1725-1761) also founded an orphanage in Bunzlau. As is common with German hymnals of this era, this contains words but no music. Very scarce. In Very Good+ Condition: lightly rubbed; occasional lightly foxing; otherwise, clean and tight.

New York: Bookman Associates. Very Good in Very Good dust jacket. 1964. First Edition. Hardcover. Text is clean. Cover shows only limited wear. Dust jacket shows light edgewear, minor chipping at spine ends, DJ is price clipped with ink mark on front flap of DJ. Previous owner gift inscription on reverse of front free endpaper. NAP. ; From dust jacket flap: Since 1929, scholars have been concerned with the interpretation of certain Canaanite literary materials found at Ras Shamra in North Syria, known as Ugarit in ancient times. Attention has been paid, primarily, to certain linguistic and cultural parallels between this corpus of literature and sections of the Old Testament. But despite the number treatments of isolated points of contact between Ugaritic and biblical thought, one major question has not received an adequate answer. How and to what extent are the Ugaritic texts, and especially the Baal texts, relevant for an appreciation of the fundamentals of the Israelite religion?… Read More

Los Angeles: Church of Scientology of California, 1968. SCARCE. Near Fine, very slight corner crease front wrapper. . First Edition. Stapled Wrappers. Near Fine/No Jacket, As Issued. 8vo - over 7¾" - 9¾" tall.

Coloniae [Köln]: Henricum Noethen, 1757. Hardcover. Very Good -. [24], 670, [8] p., frontispiece; 15 cm. Signatures: [dagger]-2[dagger]12 A-2D12 2E-2F6 2G4 (12mo). Contemporary specked paper over boards; later dark brown cloth repair of spine. Small label with printed "P" at head of spine. All page edges red. Title page in red and black. Frontispiece has caption in German: "Thomae Von Kempen Vier Bücher Von der Nachfolgung Christi." Small bookplate on front fixed endpaper reading: "Ex Biblioth. Domus. Congr. SS. Redempt. ad St. Alphons. Baltimor." Small stamp on title page verso reading: "Bibliotheca Mt. St. Alphonsus Esopus, N.Y." Former owner's name on front free endpaper: "Georg Ruland." In Very Good- Condition: binding rubbed; joints starting to separate; upper corner of a few pages creased; clean and tight.

The classic Black and Red illustrated edition. But note the date - 1970 Since then one owner! Well read copy but always treated with great respect! This was like a bible in the Seventies. As far as I know this is the first edition of the Red & Black newly illustrated English version.

Grand Rapids, Michigan: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1995. First edition. Octavo. Original cloth and dust jacket (not price-clipped). Signed by Russell Kirk's wife, Annette Kirk, on front free endpaper: "With best wishes! / Annette Y. Kirk / August 1997." Fine in fine dust jacket.. A fine copy of Russell Kirk's (1918-1994) memoirs, signed by his wife, Annette Kirk, to whom he dedicated the book. Widely celebrated as a founding father of modern intellectual conservatism, Russell Kirk-the Sage of Mecosta-set out in The Sword of Imagination to describe his participation in the intellectual, social, philosophical, and political contests of the twentieth century. Kirk wrote the book in the third person in order to tell the story of a young boy coming of age in the railroad yards outside of Detroit and maturing into one of the most influential political minds of his generation. Perhaps best remembered for his movement-defining book The Conservative Mind (1953), throughout his life Kirk wielded… Read More

Chicago: Henry Regnery Company, 1963. First edition. Octavo. Original cloth and dust jacket (not price-clipped). Minor scuffing and edgewear to dust jacket with chips to head and tail of spine; two-inch closed tears to jacket hinges; bump to bottom of boards. Near-fine in a very good dust jacket, which is uncommon for this book.. First edition of Willmoore Kendall's (1909-1967) The Conservative Affirmation, which offers a collection of his most important essays and reviews on conservatism. Kendall was an influential leader in the founding of modern American conservatism-and he remains one of the movement's most interesting thinkers. Born in Oklahoma in 1909, Kendall graduated from high school at age thirteen, from the University of Oklahoma at age eighteen, and studied at Oxford University as a Rhodes Scholar in 1932. Like other founding fathers within the movement, including James Burnham and Whittaker Chambers, he was an early Trotskyist, but Kendall would eventually disclaim Communism following… Read More

P. Price, New York, 1835; First Edition; 12mo (4" x 5 7/8"); 288 pgs.; brown cloth with embossed grapevine design; gilt spine titles. The complete series of letters exchanged between Abel C. Thomas and Ezra Stiles Ely from 1833-1835 debating the doctrine of eternal punishment, which incited widespread controversy at the time. The letters of Doctor Ely originally appeared in The Philadelphian, those of Thomas in The Messenger and Universalist, except the concluding seven epistles, which were published here for the first time. Printed by J. S. Redfield. Very Good. Scattered light foxing, light transparent dampstain upper right corner pgs. 17-109, very light cloth wear of the spine panel extremities, interior hinges cracked. A rare first edition of this theological exchange between two prominent thinkers from the period of The Second Great Awakening.

Berkeley, California: The University Press: Philosophical Union of the University of California offprint from the University of California Chronicle, Volume XIII, No. 4, 1911. Offprint. Pamphlet. Stapled wraps, 5.75 x 8.75 inches, 26 pp. Faint spotting to wrappers; crease to front wrapper with several half-inch closed tears to head of wrappers and title page; some separation of wrappers along spine; discreet, one-inch tape repair to head of front wrapper (verso); toning to wrappers and leaves; pages bright and unmarked. Very good.. Original offprint setting forth George Santayana's (1863-1952) remarks before the Philosophical Union of the University of California on August 25, 1911 on "The Genteel Tradition in American Philosophy." In what would become his farewell address to America, Santayana analyzes American culture and tradition at the turn of the twentieth century, presenting America with a vision of itself that would, in the decades ahead, begin to fade away before the advent of democratic… Read More

Marina Del Rey, CA: DeVorss & Co., 1964. 5 volume set. Hardcover. Very Good. All five volumes have moderate soiling to covers; vols. I & II have penciled erasures on the front flyleaf; vol. III has a small stain on the front fly leaf and a small stain at the bottom of the page that extends through page 18. Rubbing to all corners edges. Otherwise all volumes are unmarked, tight, bright, and clean on the interior. Photo is of the set we have here at Barbed Wire Books.

Washington, DC: Ralston Publishing Company, 1903. First Edition. Hardcover. Very Good. 453pp; Brown cloth boards with gilt titling to spine, moderate wear to corners of boards, slight scuffing to boards, original decorated endpapers, previous owner's name (with 1902 date) to flyleaf, pages slightly age-toned, text unmarked, binding is tight, VG condition. Scarce antique tome on a variety of topics by Webster Edgerly (1852-1926) the author of numerous guides to personal magnetism and other self-help systems, under the pseudonym Edmund Shaftesbury. Partial Contents: Human Cultivation; Destiny of Life; The Murderer At Large; Foods of the Future; The Servant Question; Amusements; Poverty and Wealth; Creeds Are Unchristian; much more.