Hume
Hume names 3 different subjects across the 6 encyclopedias on this shelf. Each is set out below. 1 of them is described by more than one encyclopedia.
Hume DAVID, a Scotch historian and philosopher
Described by 2 of the 6 encyclopedias.
Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)
DAVID, a Scotch historian and philosopher; born in Edinburgh, Scotland, April 26 (o. s.), 1711. Originally designed for the law, he became, in 1734, clerk in a mercantile house at Bristol. Having a strong propensity to literature, for the sake of seclusion he went to France, where he wrote his "Treatise of Human Nature" (1738). This work excited no interest on its first appearance, though it holds an important place in the history of philosophy. , Hume's "Essays, Moral, Political and Literary," appeared in 1742 and 1752, and were favorably received. In 1745 he was invited to reside with the young of Annandale. Here he spent marquis a year; meanwhile the chair of moral philosophy in the University of Edinburgh having become vacant, he became a candidate, but failed. In 1746 he became secretary to General St. Clair, whom he accompanied to the courts of Vienna and Turin. In 1752 appeared at Edinburgh his "Inquiry Concerning the Principles of Morals," which of all his writings is considered the best. In 1754 he published the first volume of his "History of England," which he did not complete till 1761. While this work was in progress he published "The Natural History of Religion." His great work, "The History of England," had now acquired considerable celebrity, and the author gained largely by its popularity, for besides the profits it brought him, he obtained a pension through Lord Bute. In 1763 he accompanied the Earl of Hertford on his embassy embassy to Paris, from whose fashionable and literary circles he received an enthusiastic welcome; and where, in 1765, he remained as chargé d'affaires. He became under-secretary of State in 1767. He died in Edinburgh, Scotland, Aug. 25, 1776.
Aiton's Encyclopedia (1910)
hum, David (1711-1776), a Scotch man of letters. He was born and educated at Edinburgh. His studies at the University were designed to fit him for the law, but he took to literature. He studied three years in France. He made a living as a teacher and as a private secretary until appointed librarian at the University of Edinburgh. He wrote a number of works on philosophy, morals, and religion that have brought him little fame, but his History of England is a masterpiece. It is written in a clear, attractive style, hardly second to that of Macaulay. Hume was the first English historian to make place for chapter on literature and the condition of the common people. His history contains a few sentences that have warranted a charge of hostility to orthodoxy, but the high merit and originality of his work made it an undisputed standard until Green's history appeared. See Green ; Macaulay ; Hallam ; Lingard ; Froude
Hume FERGUS, a New Zealand novelist
Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)
FERGUS, a New Zealand novelist; born in England, July 24, 1862. He was educated for the law. His first long work, "The Mystery of a Hansom Cab," was published in Melbourne, and later in London, achieving a phenomenal circulation. After the success of his first novel the author devoted himself to literature in London. His most popular publications are "The Piccadilly Puzzle" (1889); "Miss Mephistopheles" (1890); "A Creature of Night" (1891); "An Island of Fantasy" (1894); "The Dwarf's Chamber" (1896); "The Indian Bangle" (1899); "Jonah's Luck" (1906); etc.
Hume MARTIN ANDREW SHARP, an English historian
Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)
MARTIN ANDREW SHARP, an English historian; born in London,' in 1847. He was educated in Madrid and was for a time editor of the Spanish State Papers in the Public Record Office in London. He served in the Turkish campaigns in 1897 and afterward traveled extensively in South America. His most important works are "Philip II. of Spain" Spain" 1897); "Modern Spain, 1788-1898" (1899); "The Love Affairs of Mary Queen of Scots" (1903); “Queen Elizabeth and her England" (1910). He died in 1910.
What Has Changed in the Last Century
The judgement of Hume has been almost exactly reversed. Aiton's in 1910 held that his works "on philosophy, morals, and religion have brought him little fame, but his History of England is a masterpiece"; today the History is read chiefly by specialists, while the "Treatise of Human Nature" that Collier's says "excited no interest on its first appearance" is treated as one of the central books of Western philosophy, and Hume as the greatest philosopher to write in English. His frankest work on religion, the "Dialogues concerning Natural Religion," held back until after his death in 1776, is now taught as a classic rather than passed over as a "charge of hostility to orthodoxy." His failure to win the Edinburgh moral philosophy chair, which Collier's mentions in a line, is now read as evidence of how far his scepticism put him beyond the pale. In 2020 the University of Edinburgh removed his name from the David Hume Tower over a racist passage in one of his essays, a controversy no 1910 reader would have anticipated.
Written for this edition, 2026.