Draper, John William. Thoughts on the Future Civil Policy of America. New York: Harper & Brothers, 1865. First Edition. [9426]
Russet publisher's cloth, frayed at the headcap, 8 1/2 x 5 3/4 inches, 1887 private bookplate, vii., 325 clean pp., most pages unopened. Publisher's adverts at end; adverts slip tipped in at the beginning of chapter one for Draper's soon-to-be-published History of the Civil War. Good. Hardcover.
"In a work on 'The Intellectual Development of Europe,' published by me in 1863, I showed that the historical progress of the nations of that continent illustrates the fact that social advancement is as completely under the control of natural law as is the bodily growth of an individual...Selecting, therefore, some of the more prominent principles thus presented, I design to show in this work their bearing oncertain questions of great political interest in America." - Preface.
Chapter I. - On the Influence of Climate; Chapter II. - On the Effects of Emigration; Chapter III. - On the Political Force of Ideas; Chapter IV. - On the Natural Course of National Development.
John William Draper (1811-1882), b. St. Helens, Lancashire, England; d. Hastings-on-Hudson, New York. Something of a polymath, Draper was an accomplished chemist, photographer, historian, physician, and philosopher. Educated at University College, London, and at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, Draper is credited with producing one of the earliest daguerreotype portraits, and was the second person to photograph the moon. He taught at New York University, and helped to found the New York University Medical School, where he was professor (1840-1850), president (1850-1873), and professor of chemistry. As a historian Draper applied a scientific method to his studies, and produced books of significance. Although the son of an itinerant Methodist preacher, Draper became known as a champion of science against religion.
