John Stuart Mill

Autographed letter signed, consisting of two pages of writing (on four total pages), regarding the writings of Auguste Comte, addressed from Avignon and dated April 1865. In it, John Stuart Mill writes in full: "Sir / Not having the later writings of M. Comte with me here, I cannot give an exact reference to the passage which you desire to find. But it forms part of an attack on dogmatic atheism, which, to the best of my remembrance, is contained in the latter part of the first chapter of the Discours sur l'Ensemble du Positivisme, prefixed(?) to his second systematic treatise, the Systeme de Politique Positive. The entire discourse, I may add, has been translated into English by Dr. Bridges, and published very lately, I believe by Trubner, in Paternoster Row. I am Sir very faithfully yours / J. S. Mill"; with the name Dr. Ashland(?) written in the bottom left corner.

Included with the letter is John Stuart Mill's Autobiography. London: Longmans, Green, Reader, and Dyer, 1873. First edition, second issue. In original green pebbled cloth with gilt lettering on the spine. 8vo; vi, [1]-313, [1]pp. plus erratum leaf and advertising leaf. (Good minus condition. Former library copy. Boards lightly scuffed with rubbed corners, spine cocked with separation from text block, wear to ends, and splitting at rear joint; significant hinge cracking, endpapers with names of previous owners and rear endpaper detached; interior with light toning, occasional writing, and rare spot of grime or other minor sign of wear, but otherwise very clean.)

Letter 7 3/8 x 4 3/4 in.; Book 8 7/8 x 6 in.

From the Collection of the late Professor Joel L. Fleishman, founding director of the Sanford School of Public Policy at Duke University, Durham, North Carolina

Philosopher John Stuart Mill (1806-1873) began corresponding with Auguste Comte in the 1840s, and the work of "the father of positivism" had a significant influence on him. Mill even wrote a book on Comte, titled Auguste Comte and Positivism, which was published in 1865, the same year he wrote this letter. The book Mill references in the letter, A General View of Positivism, translated by J.H. Bridges, was published the same year.

Letter with expected folds and light creases, light toning with a few small spots, and the top edge browned with some grime and small tears and chips, mostly at the folds; very good.