Word and Object.

New York: The Technology Press of The Massachusetts Institute of Technology and John Wiley & Sons, Inc.,, 1960. First edition, first printing, inscribed by the author to his parents on the front free endpaper "To Mom & Dad with love. Van". "In 1941 Quine turned to the modalities, the notions of necessity and possibility, and argued that they are hopelessly unclear... Gradually, Quine strengthened his arguments against the modalities, until in Word and Object (1960) he showed that, when modality is combined with quantification, modal distinctions collapse. That is, everything that is possible is true, and everything that is true is necessary" (ANB). This copy originates from a large number of Quine family books, recently dispersed on the market. The collection included another copy of the same book, also inscribed to Quine's parents, and then additonally inscribed underneath by Quine again to James F. Tyler in 1989. Quine perhaps mistakenly inscribed two copies to his parents, presented this, and retained the other, until he found a use for it with the new inscription to Tyler. Octavo. Original green cloth, spine and front cover lettered in black. With dust jacket. Cloth discoloured and sunned, a good copy in jacket entirely split and very worn, but left unrestored and unrepaired.