Porter Henderson Library 50th Anniversary

Published in three volumes, Volume I only present here. "An early edition of Adams' classic study, an elaboration upon and defense of the constitutional framework of the new American republic. Adams' work first appeared in London, then New York and Philadelphia in 1787 and in Boston in 1788. No other edition appeared until almost the end of the century." In this work, Adams ably combated the views of Turgot and other European writers as to the viciousness of the framework of the state governments. "Adams's essay played a key role in the development of American political philosophy, notably in defence of the separation of powers." The primary importance of Adams' work in the context of American history is its timing. It had a profound effect upon those gathered to frame the Constitution: "The first volume appeared in America while the convention for framing a constitution was assembling. Its timeliness gave it vogue; but it is chiefly remembered for the unjustifiable partisan interpretation given it in later years as an attempt to favor a monarchy."

Mythically Jewish until it was converted to Christianity in the fourth century, Ethiopia was almost isolated from Europe by the screen of Islam after the seventh century. It has retained many cultural features that disappeared elsewhere long ago; among them, a tradition of talismanic art. Talismans are not considered to be a product of human skill; they are a part of a "mystery" faithfully reproduced through revelation. The Ethiopian genius translated into pictorial language on "magic Scrolls" the antique theory of correspondences between men, animals, stars, demons, sicknesses, etc. These paintings were considered capable of commanding spirits because of their intrinsic healing qualities, coupled with the realization of the desires of their owners.ng qualities, coupled with the realization of the desires of their owners.

Rare complete set in six volumes. The fourth volume of this set is inscribed by Susan B. Anthony. The series was edited by Susan B. Anthony, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Matilda Joslyn Gage, and Ida Husted Harpers. "The volumes document the speeches, papers, correspondence, and other records of the women's right movement, and to some degree the temperance and abolition movement as well. The first four volumes included documents from the 19th century, as follows: Volume 1, 1848-1861; Volume 2, 1861-1876; Volume 3, 1876-1885; Volume 4, 1883-1900; with Volume 5 and Volume 6 covering the period from 1900-1920."

Thomas Aquinas, an Italian Dominican priest, was one of the most influential philosophers and theologians of the Christian faith. While Aquinas was pursuing his master's degree in theology, he dedicated his final three years of study to commenting on Petrus Lombardus' 'Libri Quatuor Sententiarum', or 'Four Books of Sentences'. The 'Four Books of Sentences' is a compilation of biblical texts that Lombardus combined with relevant passages from the works of church fathers and medieval scholars written around 1150. In many ways, Sentences is the first significant effort to bring together commentaries on disparate theological issues and to examine where such commentaries defended different viewpoints.

Thomas Aquinas, Epistola de modo studendi; Cato, Disticha Catonis; Martin De Braga, Fomula honestae vitae [De Quattuor virtutibus cardinalibus]; Pseudo-Bernardus Clarevallensis, Epistola ad Raymundum de cura rei familiaris; Doctrine de la Foy Catholique or Table de la foi catholique

In Roman type, with woodcut capitals and 351 woodcut diagrams in the text with large woodcut device of Benedictus Fontana on final leaf. Translated by Joannes Argyropylus, Leonardo Bruni, Georgio Valla and others. This volume "contains most of his works on natural science, including a number which had never appeared in separate editions. It begins with a letter of Democritus to Fontana in praise of his enterprise in publishing Aristotle, followed by an address to the reader summarizing the ten years' exclusive privilege of printing and selling Aristotle's works granted to Fontana on 26 March 1496." This volume contains Aristotle's 'Physica,' 'Metaphysica,' 'De Caelo et Mundo,' 'De Anima,' and 'Ethica Nicomachea' as well as several other works.

First Edition English with ornamental woodcut on title page and translated by John Healey. The work was completed by Augustine in the early 5th century in Latin. "'Citie of God' is an apology for Christianity against the accusation that the Church was responsible for the decline of the Roman Empire. It interprets human history as a conflict between the City of God, which includes the body of Christians belonging to the Church, and the Earthly City, composed of pagans and heretical Christians. Augustine foresees that, through the will of God, the people of the City of God will eventually win immortality, those in the Earthly City destruction."

Illuminated and Rubricated Manuscript, in Latin on Parchment. It was made in Northern France in the 13th century. The earliest examples of these portable Bibles were copied in Paris at the end of the 1220's or the early 1230's, and the format was adopted quickly throughout Europe. The Vulgate is a late 4th-century Latin translation of the Bible. It was largely the work of St. Jerome, who was commissioned by Pope Damasus I in 382 to make a revision of the old Latin translations. St. Jerome translated the Bible from Hebrew, Greek and Aramaic. By the 13th century this revision had come to be called the Vulgate, that is, the "commonly used translation" and ultimately it became the definitive and officially circulated Latin version of the Bible in the Roman Catholic Church in 16th century. The collection and order of the books which make up this version of the Bible differs slightly from the ones in the King James Version. It includes several books of the Apocrypha.

First published individually as magazine articles. This collection of his writings demonstrates the late steel magnate's beliefs on wealth, poverty, the public good, and capitalism. "Carnegie proposed that the best way of dealing with the new phenomenon of wealth inequality was for the wealthy to redistribute their surplus means in a responsible and thoughtful manner. This approach was contrasted with traditional bequest, where wealth is handed down to heirs, and other forms of bequest. Carnegie argued that surplus wealth is put to best use when it is administered carefully by the wealthy. Carnegie also argues against wasteful use of capital in the form of extravagance, irresponsible spending, or self-indulgence, instead promoting the administration of said capital over the course of one's lifetime toward the cause of reducing the stratification between the rich and poor. As a result, the wealthy should administer their riches responsibly and not in a way that encourages the 'slothful, the drunken, the unworthy.'"

In Chinese, illustrated manuscript with 103 woodblocks, on paper by Shengji Ti. This large album tells the life of the great political philosopher Confucius who lived in China around the fifth century B.C. Chinese name Kung Fu-tse (551 - 479 B.C.), Confucius was a Chinese political and ethical philosopher and would-be reformer. Failing to achieve personal ambitions and success, Confucius taught a large number of disciples who carried on, developed, and greatly altered his teachings, so that, by the second century B.C., they formed the dominant philosophy in China.

First Book Printing of the Articles of Confederation. Originally and formally known as the Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union, this written constitution of the United States of America was the first to specify how the national government was to function. Drafted between 1776 and 1777, this temporary working constitution, made up of thirteen articles, justified the Congress in its supervision over revolution-in the form of independence from the British crown-which would become known as the American Revolution.

Rare, Third Edition in Latin. Extensively corrected with first issuance of the 'Biography of Copernicus,' explanatory notes and source notes to the Greek used by Copernicus. The publication of 'De Revolutionibus' "was a landmark in human thought. It challenged the authority of antiquity and set the course for the modern world by its effective destruction of the anthropocentric view of the universe." "This printing was by Nicolaus Mulerius who was a professor of mathematics at the University of Groningen." In 1514, Copernicus privately circulated an outline of his thesis on planetary motion. In 1540, a supporter named Georg Joachim Rheticus of Wittenberg, had persuaded Copernicus to allow him to publish a brief description of the Copernican system, but the actual publication of 'De Revolutionibus' containing his mathematical proofs did not occur until 1543. Copernicus delayed its publishing until near death and has been taken as a sign that he was well aware of the possible furor his work might incite; certainly his preface to Pope Paul III anticipates many of the objections it raised.

Compilation of the now famous stories ascribed to the personage of Davy Crockett. Including "Not yours to give."

Contains: Meditationes de Prima Philosohpia, Epistola ad Celeberrimum virum D. Gisbertum Voetium, Dissertatio de Methodo. Dioptrice, Meteora/Tractatus de Passinibus anime.

First published in 1845, this work is a memoir and treatise on abolition written by Frederick Douglass. In factual detail, the text "encompasses eleven chapters that recount the events of Douglass' life as a slave and his ambition to become a free man." Within four months of its publication, it sold five thousand copies and by 1860, almost thirty thousand copies had been sold. "After its publication, Douglass sailed to England and Ireland for two years in fear of being recaptured by his owner in the United States. While in Britain and Ireland, he gained supporters who paid $710.96 to purchase his emancipation from his legal owner." This work is one of the most influential pieces of literature to fuel the abolitionist movement of the early 19th century in the United States and is "generally held to be the most famous of a number of narratives written by former slaves during the same period."

"This important collection of twelve essays includes his famous essay on self-reliance, as well as essays on intellect, history, love, friendship, heroism, art, compensation, and other subjects." "Timeless, and without a trace of `dating,' these essays are as readable, and to a considerable extent as much read, today as a hundred years ago. Their ethical inspiration and stimulation, their occasional startling phrase, their individualistic idealism, which stirred renascent Yankee New England to its depths, speaks with the same simple power and force in the midst of modern complexities." "It is Emerson's essay on self-reliance, in which he strongly advocates standing alone behind one's own principles against the tides of conformity and society, which is perhaps his most famous."

Euclid's work is the oldest mathematical textbook still in common use today and one of the most important scientific text in human history. Euclid was the foremost mathematician of the illustrious "Alexandrian Academy". He had studied at Athens, probably with students of Plato. His 'Elements' remains the most important treatise of geometry and has determined all subsequent teaching. Perhaps no book save the Bible has been more extensively studied, and for the past 22 centuries it has held its place of importance. Although elementary works had been written by other authors prior to Euclid, his works displaced everything which had come before completely. Often thought of as the Father of Critical Thinking also known as "Deductive Logic."

A compilation of several primary pieces written by Benjamin Franklin, printed as a "Literary Miscellany" in 1758. Including works such as: "The Preliminary Address to the Poor Richard's Almanac", "Necessary Hints to those that Would Be Rich", "Advice to Young Tradesman", "An Economical Project", "The Whistle, Morals of Chess", "Observations of the Generally Prevailing Doctrines of Life & Death", "Parable Against Persecution", and "An Allegorical Dream".

It is agreed that his work on proving the science of Archimedes is the first scientific work written by Galileo and it is noted as having been originally composed in 1580's. It was printed for a general public audience for the first time in 1655. A treatise on the center of gravity in solids, which obtained for , together with the title of "the Archimedes of his time," the honorable though not lucrative post of mathematical leader at the Pisan University. "Galileo's application through diligence in reviewing Archimedes' work enlightened him... with a way that yielded the desired result with almost unbelievable precision."

A Dramatic Poem translated into English prose, with remarks on former translations, and notes by the translator of Savigny's "Of the Vocation of our Age for Legislation and Jurisprudence." Inscribed by the translator.

Six Works Collected Into One Volume including the "very rare, first appearance in print of Hildegard's 'Scivias', published with four other first editions of major Medieval spiritual works." "With title-page woodcut full-length figure portrays the six authors with their most recognizable attributes." The volume was "prepared from authoritative manuscripts by the most illustrious French humanist and editor of his time, Jacques Lefevre d'Etaple. Eight manuscripts only survive to this day." 'Scivias' "here occupying the leaves 28 to 118, the most substantial of all the texts, was the best-known and most influential of Hildegard's works in her time. Completed in 1151 or 1152, it describes twenty-six visions experienced by the contemplative nun, articulated in three sections, mirroring the Trinity." "'Scivias' was the model for Elizabeth of Schonau's 'Visions,' here also printed in first edition, along with three other first editions of major works of Medieval spirituality: the 'Visio Uguetini,' the second-century 'Pastor of Hermas' and Robert d'Uzés: the sixth text is an early edition of the Liber spiritualis gratiae of Mechthild von Hackeborn."

Hippocrates (approximately 460-377 B.C.), a Greek doctor known today as the Father of Medicine. Little is known of his life except that he traveled extensively in the eastern Mediterranean and lived for a time on the island of Cos where there was a famous medical school. Hippocrates first established an empirical system of medicine based on a combination of bedside experience and a collation of the many individual data which then formed the basis of clinical teaching. He freed medicine from superstition and the influence of priest craft and derived his system from the accumulated empirical knowledge of Egypt, Cnidos and Cos. The ideal of the humane and learned physician originates with Hippocrates and the ‘Hippocratic Oath’ still remains the classic expression of the duties, ethics, and moral standards of the medical profession today. Hippocratic methods were employed by the Greeks for centuries, but suffered an eclipse during the Middle Ages when a combination of magic and scholastic theories prevailed. The Renaissance and the classic revival brought the Hippocratic writings again to the forefront and they have remained an inspiration to medical research and ethics ever since.

Illustrated with sculpture and annotations. Translated into English by John Ogilby. Ogilby's translation of the 'Odyssey' is the second complete English translation. The 'Odyssey' is one of two major ancient Greek epic poems, the other being the 'Iliad' attributed to Homer. The poem focuses on the Greek hero Odysseus and his 10 year journey home after the fall of Troy. In his absence, it is assumed he has died, his wife, Penelope, and son, Telemachus, must deal with a group of suitors, who vie for Penelope's hand in marriage.

Jefferson's only book-length work. Completed in 1781 and then updated and enlarged in 1782 and 1783. 'Notes on the State of Virginia' originated as a request for information about Virginia made to members of the Continental Congress by François Barbé-Marbois, the Secretary to the French delegation in Philadelphia, in 1780. Jefferson, then the Governor of Virginia, was given the list of inquiries and soon began the task of responding. The work "is a compilation of data by Jefferson about the state's natural resources and economy, and his vigorous and often eloquent argument about the nature of the good society, which he believed was incarnated by Virginia." It is still considered a valuable source of information about the natural history of Virginia as well as about 18th century political and social life.

German philosopher. Kant's attempt to define precisely the domain of rational understanding is a landmark in Western thought. On the one hand he opposed Hume's skepticism, the idea that pure reason is of no real use in understanding the world, and on the other, he challenged Enlightenment faith in the unlimited scope of reason. The basic formulation of what is called his critical philosophy is contained in the 'Critique of Pure Reason', the 'Critique of Practical Reason', and the 'Critique of Judgment'. His ideas were used by Schiller as the basis for aesthetic theories and marked the beginning of German idealistic philosophy, which was developed by Fichte, Schelling, and Hegel. 'Critique of Pure Reason', the philosophical work by Kant in which "he maintained that all sense experience must be inherently rational and therefore that rational knowledge about experience is possible. However, although reason can understand a thing considered as an object of experience, reason cannot understand the "thing in itself."

An illuminated Koran Manuscript. The Koran is the central religious text of Islam, which Muslims consider the exact word of God and the Final Testament, following the Old and New Testaments. Its literally meaning is "a recitation." It is regarded widely as the finest piece of literature in the Arabic language. The Quran is divided into 114 suras of unequal length which are classified either as Meccan or Medinan depending upon their place and time of revelation. Muslims believe that the Koran was verbally revealed through the angel Gabriel from God to Muhammad gradually over a period of approximately twenty-three years. It began in 610 CE, when Muhammad was forty, and concluded in 632 CE, the year of his death. Muslims believe that the Koran was precisely memorized, recited and exactly written down by Muhammad's companions after each revelation was dictated by Muhammad. Shortly after Muhammad's death, the Koran was compiled into a single book by order of the first Caliph Abu Bakr and at the suggestion of his future successor Umar. Hafsa, who was Muhammad's widow and Umar's daughter, was entrusted and became guardian of the only copy of the Koran after the second Caliph Umar died. Uthman, the third Caliph, asked Hafsa to borrow the Koran so several copies could be made and sent to main centers of the expanding empire. The Koran copies written helped in establishing the standard dialect of Arabic language, the Quraish dialect now known as Fus'ha, Modern Standard Arabic, which began to have slight differences. The copies of the Koran made also helped to standardize the text, invalidated all other versions of the Koran. The present form of the Quran text is accepted by most scholars as the original version compiled by Abu Bakr.

First Public Printing in the New York Times September 23, 1862. A preliminary proclamation had been issued on September 22, 1862, (as seen here) after the Union success at Antietam had bolstered the likelihood of ultimate victory over the Confederacy. It was followed by a proclamation issued by President Abraham Lincoln on January 1, 1863, declaring that all slaves in areas still in rebellion against the U.S. were henceforth to be free. The proclamation did not affect slaves in the border states nor in territory under U.S. military occupation. Slavery was not completely abolished until the adoption of the thirteenth amendment to the Constitution in 1865.

"'Two Treatises on Government', was written in defense of the Glorious Revolution, it revealed Locke's belief in the natural goodness and cooperative spirit of man and his theory that the state should operate according to natural laws of reason and tolerance. He advocated religious tolerance and rights to personal property. The American Declaration of Independence, in particular, echoes his contention that government rests on popular consent and that rebellion is permissible when government subverts the ends - the protection of life, liberty, and property - for which it is established."

Niccolo Machiavelli is a popular symbol for the completely unprincipled, and unscrupulous politician whose whole philosophy is that the end justifies the means. The highest law to Machiavelli, it is universally believed, was political expediency…from a comparative reading of (The Discourses and The Prince), one must come to the startling conclusion that Machiavelli was a convinced republican. He had no liking for despotism, and considered a combination of popular and monarchial government best.

The classic economic study which was to change the face of twentieth century politics and geography for nearly 75 years. One must bear in mind, that though the “Cold War” may be over, the concept and practice of Marxism is still very much alive in China and portions of Latin America, not to mention the use of “Marxian” concepts in various economic structures throughout the world. Marx’s monumental work, begun in 1867, was actually left unfinished and was “edited” and completed by Frederick Engels for publication.

"The essay On Liberty was probably Mill's only abiding work on politics... comparable to Milton's Areopagitica... as one of the classical defenses of freedom in the English language... The argument of his essay went far beyond a merely utilitarian defense of liberty. When he said that all mankind has no right to silence one dissenter... he was claiming the right to think, to investigate, and to know as moral attributes inseparable from the dignity of a rational being"". "Mill’s On Liberty remains his most widely read book. It represents the final stage in the growth of Utilitarian doctrine... Mill realized that the `greatest good' of the community is inseparable from the liberty of the individual... [declaring that] `the sole end for which mankind is justified in interfering with liberty of action is self-protection'... Many of Mill's ideas are now the commonplaces of democracy. His arguments for freedom of every kind of thought or speech have never been improved on. He was the first to recognize the tendency of a democratically elected majority to tyrannize over a minority."

Published two years after his death, with 49 folding plates and tables. "'The Principia" is generally described as the greatest work in the history of science. Copernicus, Galileo and Kepler had certainly shown the way; but they described the phenomena they observed, Newton explained the underlying universal laws. Newton showed that the important and dramatic aspects of nature that were subject to the universal law of gravitation could be explained, in mathematical terms, with a single physical theory…The same laws of gravitation and motion rule everywhere; for the first time a single mathematical law could explain the motion of objects on earth as well as the phenomena of the heaven…It was this grand conception that produced a general revolution in human thought, equaled perhaps only by that following Darwin's 'Origin of Species.' It was the final, irrevocable break with a medieval conception based on Greek and Roman cosmology and a scholastic system derived from the medieval interpretation of Aristotle.

"This is the Definitive Edition of Morgenrothe ('Dawn') which includes the 11-page introduction that appears here for the first time." Morgenrothe' ('Dawn') brings central focus to Nietzsches' attack upon and critique of Christian morality. 'Die Frohliche Wissenschaft' '(The Gay Science') contains the first instance of his famous statement, "Gott ist Tot!" (God is Dead). "Nietzsche experiments with the notion of power but does not advance any systematic theory. The work contains Nietzsche's first consideration of the idea of the eternal recurrence, a concept which would become critical in his next work 'Thus Spoke Zarathustra' and underpins much of the later works." In addition, this volume includes the entirely new, 75-page Chapter 'Wir Furchtlosen' (We Fearless Ones) in The Gay Science.

Printed in the same year as the first edition with the title, 'Common Sense: with the Whole Appendix, The Address to the Quakers; also, the Large Additions.' "The pamphlet explained the advantages of and the need for immediate independence." It inspired the people of the Thirteen Colonies to declare and fight for their independence from Great Britain in 1776. The pamphlet was written between 1775 and 1776. It was published anonymously on January 10, 1776 and was only forty-eight pages. Paine wrote the pamphlet like a sermon, using clear and simple language, making it easy for all who could read, to understand it. The work was the largest sale and circulation of any book published in American history during its time. In its first year, it went through twenty-five editions. Paine donated his royalties from 'Common Sense' to the Continental Army saying, "As my wish was to serve an oppressed people, and assist in a just and good cause, I conceived that the honor of it would be promoted by my declining to make even the usual profits of an author."

With the 'Life and Tryal of the Author' and eight double-page maps: Written during Raleigh's imprisonment in the Tower of London from 1603 to 1616. "Raleigh began work on 'The History of the World' in 1607. Registered in 1611 and finally published two years later, "it was suppressed by George Abbott, archbishop of Canterbury, on December 22 and copies were seized by the king's agents for his own use… because it was "too sawcie in censuring princes". The suppression order was soon lifted and the 'History' was reprinted in 1617. It remained popular: there were at least eleven editions in the seventeenth century, one in the eighteenth, and one in the nineteenth." The volume "was intended to outline historical events from creation to modern times, drawing on the Bible, Greek mythology and other sources." It "ends abruptly with the second Macedonian War instead of continuing through two more volumes as originally intended."

Das Burch der Croniken Under Geschichten - The Nuremberg Chronicle was the most ambitious illustrated book of the incunable period and a point in the evolution of humanistic history. The Nuremberg Chronicle is a pictorial history of the earth from creation to the 1490s published in 1493. Its structure follows the story of human history as related in the Bible while also including digressions on natural catastrophes, royal genealogies and the histories of a number of important Western cities. It is considered one of the most outstanding examples of early printing and is an excellent reflection of the spirit of its time. It simultaneously demonstrates the influence of the Renaissance humanism, and it shows a society in the process of transformation from medieval to modern, and from a scribal culture to a print culture. In 1493, the year the Chronicle was published, the city of Nuremburg was the most advanced among the German cities in the arts and crafts and commercial relations, and also the first city in Germany to make paper. The Chronicle contains 1809 prints, taken from 645 actual woodcuts. The Chronicle retains its splendor from a typographical perspective because the area and number of woodcuts are larger than in any other book of its century.

Known as the first and greatest classic of modern economic thought. The work was the product of seventeen years of notes and observations; the first edition sold out in six months. It went through several editions including five editions during the Smith's lifetime (1776, 1778, 1784, 1786, and 1789). The work reflected upon the economics at the beginning of the Industrial Revolution and touches upon the topics of the division of labor, productivity, and free markets. It contains many specific references to America, including "a great mass of information concerning the trade of this country, before the revolution, and a clear and convincing argument against the so-called "Mercantile System" which did so much to prepare the way for that event." The work went on to influence economists and authors such as Jean-Baptiste Say, David Ricardo, Thomas Malthus, and Ludwig von Mises.

Handwritten, Torah Fragment Scroll from Egypt, written on deer skin. The scroll contains the Covenant with Abraham from Genesis 15:4-17:23. "Since the Genizah Egyptian Torah find from the 12th Century, Egyptian Torah fragments are of the most highly prized. Genizah fragments of the Ben Ezra Synagogue are seldom seen or made available. Scrolls from ancient Egypt are very distinctive in their deep reddish color and very rare as well. This deep reddish color is due to the process used in making the scroll. This process ages to a deep reddish color over the centuries. This very soft leather parchment holds its ink very well and the hand written letters remain very dark and easy to read despite centuries of use in Synagogue and the deep red color."

Volume LIX containing the Declaration of Independence. The Declaration of Independence first publication in England was printed in the 'Universal Magazine of Knowledge and Pleasure' in 1776. The text of the Declaration appears in Volume 59 (for August 1776) on pages 91-93. It is modestly printed between an announcement of Foote's new comedy Capuchin and saccharin loves verses headed 'The British Muse.' Notably, the text of the Declaration is not listed under "America" in the Index at the end, although "answer in part to their declaration" is. The United States Declaration of Independence is a statement adopted by the Continental Congress on July 4, 1776, which announced that the thirteen American colonies then at war with Great Britain were now independent states, and no longer a part of the British Empire. Written primarily by Thomas Jefferson, the Declaration is a formal explanation of why Congress had voted on July 2 to declare independence from Great Britain, more than a year after the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War. The birthday of the United States of America, Independence Day, is celebrated on July 4, the day the wording of the Declaration was approved by Congress. Although the wording of the Declaration was approved on July 4, the date of its signing has been disputed. Most historians have concluded that it was signed nearly a month after its adoption, on August 2, 1776, and not on July 4 as is commonly believed.

François-Marie Arouet (21 November 1694 – 30 May 1778), better known by the pen name Voltaire, was a French Enlightenment writer, essayist, deist and philosopher known for his wit, philosophical sport, and defense of civil liberties, including freedom of religion. He was an outspoken supporter of social reform despite strict censorship laws and harsh penalties for those who broke them. A satirical polemicist, he frequently made use of his works to criticize Christian Church dogma and the French institutions of his day. He is best known today for his novel, Candide, ou l'Optimisme (Candide, or Optimism, 1759), which satirized the philosophy of optimism. Candide was also subject to censorship and Voltaire jokingly claimed that the actual author was a certain "Dr DeMad" in a letter, where he reaffirmed the main polemical stances of the text. Voltaire was one of several Enlightenment figures (along with John Locke and Thomas Hobbes) whose works and ideas influenced important thinkers of both the American and French Revolutions.

Published in the same year as the first edition. The volume is a "fascinating autobiography of a self-made man's rise from slavery to prominence." Washington details "his personal experiences in working to rise from the position of a slave child during the Civil War, to the difficulties and obstacles he overcame to get an education at the new Hampton University, to his work establishing vocational schools-most notably the Tuskegee Institute in Alabama-to help black people and other disadvantaged minorities learn useful, marketable skills and work to pull themselves, as a race, up by the bootstraps. He reflects on the generosity of both teachers and philanthropists who helped in educating blacks and Native American." The volume "is listed among the most widely read autobiographies. It was originally published as a serial in the Outlook Magazine… and was ultimately published in more than 12 languages."