Sur l'Homme et le Développement de ses Facultés (On Man and the Development of His Faculties): ou Essai de Physique Sociale

Paris: Bachelier, 1835. First Edition. Hardcover. Very good. Origins of Social Physics

QUETELET, Adolphe. Sur l'Homme et le Développement de ses Facultés, ou Essai de Physique Sociale. Paris: Bachelier, 1835. Vol I: Half-title + TP + [i] - xii + [1] - 327 + 2 folding plates; Vol II: Half-title + TP + [i] - viii + [1] - 327 + 4 folding plates. 2-volume octavo. First Edition.

Adolphe Quetelet’s most significant work, Sur l'homme et le developpement des ses facultes (On Man and the Development of His Faculties), presents his revolutionary idea of “social physics.” Quetelet’s treatise quickly became an influential work that served as a foundational text for positivism. Quetelet sought to establish a science for human behavior by understanding the “average” man and uncovering the causal impacts on human activity. His application of a mathematical method and statistical theories to what is perceived to be “free” choice advanced a form of determinism especially in relation to “moral” and/or “criminal” behaviors.

CONDITION: Very good in original 3/4 cloth with marbled boards. Title in gilt to spine with cataloging stickers elegantly affixed. Pages browned. Faint stamp to title pages. Internally clean with foxing. Complete with all 6 folding plates.

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