"Laws and Government are to the Political Bodies of Civil Societies, what the Vital Spirits and Life it self are to the Natural Bodies of Animated Creatures"
— Mandeville, Bernard (bap. 1670, d. 1733)
Place of Publication
London
Publisher
J. Roberts
Date
1705, 1714, 1732
Metaphor
"Laws and Government are to the Political Bodies of Civil Societies, what the Vital Spirits and Life it self are to the Natural Bodies of Animated Creatures"
Metaphor in Context
Laws and Government are to the Political Bodies of Civil Societies, what the Vital Spirits and Life it self are to the Natural Bodies of Animated Creatures; and as those that study te Anatomy of Dead Carcases may see, that the chief Organs and nicest Springs more immediately required to continue the Motion of our Machine, are not hard Bones, strong Muscles and Nerves, nor the smooth white Skin that so beautifully covers them, but small trifling Flims and little Pipes that are either overlook'd, or else seem inconsiderable to Vulgar Eyes; so they that examine into the Nature of Man, abstract from Art and Education, may observe, that what renders him a Sociable Animal, consists not in his desire of Company, Good Nature, Pity, Affability, and other Graces fo a fair Outside; but that his vilest and most hateful Qualities are the most necessary Accomplishments to fit him for the largest, and, according to the World, the happiest and most flourishing Societies.
(3-4)
(3-4)
Categories
Citation
16 entries in ESTC (1714, 1723, 1724, 1725, 1728, 1729, 1732, 1733, 1734, 1740, 1750, 1755, 1755, 1772, 1795).
The Grumbling Hive was printed as a pamphlet in 1705. 1st edition of The Fable of the Bees published in 1714, 2nd edition in 1723 (with additions, essays "On Charity Schools" and "Nature of Society"). Part II, first published in 1729. Kaye's text based on 6th edition of 1732.
The Fable of the Bees: or, Private Vices Publick Benefits. Containing, Several Discourses, to Demonstrate, That Human Frailties, During the Degeneracy of Mankind, May Be Turn'd to the Advantage of the Civil Society, and Made to Supply the Place of Moral Virtues. (London: Printed for J. Roberts, near the Oxford Arms in Warwick Lane, 1714). <Link to ECCO>
See The Fable of the Bees: or, Private Vices, Publick Benefits. the Second Edition, Enlarged With Many Additions. As Also an Essay on Charity and Charity-Schools. and a Search Into the Nature of Society. (London: Printed for Edmund Parker at the Bible and Crown in Lomb-rd-Street, 1723). <Link to ECCO>
Reading Bernard Mandeville, The Fable of the Bees, ed. F.B. Kaye, 2 vols. (Indianapolis: Liberty Fund, 1988). Orig. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1924. Reading first volume in Liberty Fund paperback; also searching online ed. <Link to OLL>
I am also working with another print edition: The Fable of the Bees, ed. F. B. Kaye, 2 vols. (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1957).
The Grumbling Hive was printed as a pamphlet in 1705. 1st edition of The Fable of the Bees published in 1714, 2nd edition in 1723 (with additions, essays "On Charity Schools" and "Nature of Society"). Part II, first published in 1729. Kaye's text based on 6th edition of 1732.
The Fable of the Bees: or, Private Vices Publick Benefits. Containing, Several Discourses, to Demonstrate, That Human Frailties, During the Degeneracy of Mankind, May Be Turn'd to the Advantage of the Civil Society, and Made to Supply the Place of Moral Virtues. (London: Printed for J. Roberts, near the Oxford Arms in Warwick Lane, 1714). <Link to ECCO>
See The Fable of the Bees: or, Private Vices, Publick Benefits. the Second Edition, Enlarged With Many Additions. As Also an Essay on Charity and Charity-Schools. and a Search Into the Nature of Society. (London: Printed for Edmund Parker at the Bible and Crown in Lomb-rd-Street, 1723). <Link to ECCO>
Reading Bernard Mandeville, The Fable of the Bees, ed. F.B. Kaye, 2 vols. (Indianapolis: Liberty Fund, 1988). Orig. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1924. Reading first volume in Liberty Fund paperback; also searching online ed. <Link to OLL>
I am also working with another print edition: The Fable of the Bees, ed. F. B. Kaye, 2 vols. (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1957).
Date of Entry
11/08/2004
