Richard Cumberland and Natural Law represents the first major biographical sketch of Cumberland to appear in English. A critic and antagonist of Thomas Hobbes, a proto-Utilitarian and a man of the cloth, Richard Cumberland may be England’s least recognised seventeenth century polymath, often overshadowed by the likes of John Bramhall and John Wallis. His magnum opus, De Legibus Naturae (On Natural Laws) stands in quality amongst the greatest works of natural philosophy and ethics of his time period. Here Kirk outlines Cumberland’s significant philosophical contributions as well as situating him in his intellectual and historical context. She describes his life, his work as Bishop of Peterborough, and his pioneering contributions to natural law theory. Kirk also includes a chapter on the various editions of Cumberland’s masterwork and the praise it received from his contemporaries. Richard Cumberland and Natural Law remains the foremost collection of biographical information of Richard Cumberland, as well as offering a comprehensive discussion of his theories.

Published in 1694, this work is a critique of the philosophy of Thomas Hobbes and an exposition of the natural law theory of Richard Cumberland. It was controversial in its time and remains a valuable contribution to the history of political philosophy. This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work is in the "public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.

The 18th century was a wealth of knowledge, exploration and rapidly growing technology and expanding record-keeping made possible by advances in the printing press. In its determination to preserve the century of revolution, Gale initiated a revolution of its own: digitization of epic proportions to preserve these invaluable works in the largest archive of its kind. Now for the first time these high-quality digital copies of original 18th century manuscripts are available in print, making them highly accessible to libraries, undergraduate students, and independent scholars. Medical theory and practice of the 1700s developed rapidly, as is evidenced by the extensive collection, which includes descriptions of diseases, their conditions, and treatments. Books on science and technology, agriculture, military technology, natural philosophy, even cookbooks, are all contained here. ++++ The below data was compiled from various identification fields in the bibliographic record of this title. This data is provided as an additional tool in helping to insure edition identification: ++++ British Library T140745 With a final advertisement leaf for Robert Knaplock. An abridgment of Richard Cumberland's 'De legibus naturæ disquisitio philosophica'. Pp.369-380 repeated in pagination, but text and register are continuous. London: printed for W. Rogers, R. Knaplock, A. Bell, and T. Cockeril, 1701. lxxii,384,369-380, [2]p.; 8°