founding father of American sociology

The rare first edition of Lester Frank Ward's (1841-1913) major work, which helped establish sociology as a distinct field of study in the United States.

Ward was founding President of the American Sociological Association, which was established in 1905 to promote the study of sociology as an independent field of enquiry from the wider humanities, economics, and political sciences. In 1906, Ward was appointed chair of sociology at Brown University, where he remained until his death in 1913.

In Dynamic Sociology Ward demonstrates 'the basic disparity between biological, unconscious evolution ("genesis") and deliberate, conscious evolution ("telesis"). In his view, the capacity for telic progress, a planned, conscious improvement requiring the development and application of intelligence, had emerged late on the evolutionary scale out of the meandering processes of biological evolution. Thus, although the human capacity for thought had evolved genetically, it was up to humans to take advantage of the opportunities offered by their intellectual ability to improve their existence. Education, which Ward categorized as "a quality of the environment," is the means of telic progress; therefore, it is in the interest of government to make education as widely available as possible' (ANB).

Rare. We can trace only 11 copies in institutional collections worldwide.

First edition, first printing; 2 vols; 8vo (20.5 x 13.5 cm); 6pp ads to rear vol. I, 10pp ads to rear vol. II, occasional annotations in pencil, vol. I free endpaper, title, and dedication reinforced at gutter margin; publisher's brown cloth, spines lettered in gilt, extremities slightly rubbed, very good; xx, 706, [6]; vii, [1], 690, [10]pp.