THE SENSE OF REALITY: Studies in Ideas and their History
London: Chatto & Windus, 1996. First Edition. Hardcover. Signed and dated by Isaiah Berlin on a prefatory blank leaf. The British philosopher and historian of ideas Sir Isaiah Berlin (1909-97) is regarded as one of the founders of the discipline now known as intellectual history. Eight of the nine pieces included in this collection are published for the first time, and their range is characteristically wide: the subjects explored include realism in history; judgement in politics; the history of socialism; the nature and impact of Marxism; the radical cultural revolution instigated by the Romantics; Russian notions of artistic commitment; and the origins and practice of nationalism. The title essay, starting from the impossibility of historians being able to recreate a bygone epoch, is a superb centerpiece. From the library of Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Michael Parks. Edited by Henry Hardy, with an introduction by Patrick Gardiner. Octavo. Original blue cloth binding, with gilt titles. A fine copy in a fine dust jacket. Fine / Fine. Item #76376
ISBN: 0701165790
Price: $800.00