University of South Carolina Libraries - Rare Books and Special Collections

This collection includes both early editions of works by the Scottish philosopher David Hume (1711-1776), and extensive holdings of scholarship about his life and thought. The important first and other early editions include, most notably:

Treatise of Human Nature,

--also second edition (London: 1817).

Essays, Moral and Political

Philosophical Essays concerning Human Understanding

An Enquiry concerning the Principles of Morals

Essays and Treatises on Several Subjects

Four Dissertations

The History of England

With this core collection are significant holdings of Hume biography (from Hill Burton, 1846, onwards), bibliography, commentaries, and other monographs. The collection was formed by the Hume scholar Prof. James Willard Oliver, Professor of Philosophy at the University of South Carolina from 1964. Through Professor Oliver's generosity, it was transferred to the University in 1997.

James Willard Oliver David Hume Collection