Mental Development in the Child and the Race
James Mark Baldwin
New York, 1895
 
First Edition, first printing.  Spot on both boards, rubbing to spine foot, minor wear to fore edge, else an attractive Near Fine copy. Scarce - one appearance in the sales records. Not yet a household name, but a pivotal book.
 
“Baldwin's Mental Development is a central text in the development of social psychology in North America and recently has re-emerged as a primary source in artificial intelligence, being part of the set of Baldwin publications documenting what is now known as The Baldwin effect.”(Brock University)
 
“The Baldwin effect concerns the trade-offs (the costs and benefits) of learning, in the context of evolution. The Baldwin effect should be of interest to:
 
 - those who are doing research on Genetic Algorithm / Neural Net (GANN) hybrids or other Genetic Algorithm / Learning Algorithm hybrids
- those with an interest in Evolutionary Psychology and the relations among learning, instinct, and evolution
- researchers in machine learning, genetic algorithms, neural networks, evolutionary theory, and cognitive science” (Nagoya)
 
"Baldwin proposed a biological, genetic theory of intelligence, a theory of the mind in the broadest sense, which was conceptually far ahead of its time.  This theory contained within it many of the most important concepts of the biological theory of intelligence and of the genetic epistemology which would later be fleshed out.”(Wozniak)
 
Sigmund Freud would also be influenced by this work: 
 
‘Baldwin’s book anticipated the general approach to social psychology that Freud was to take after 1910.  In a November 1897 letter, he commented, “It is interesting that writers are now turning so much to child psychology. Today I received another book on the subject, by James Mark Baldwin.”‘(Sulloway/Origins)
 
“In his classic analysis of fundamental mechanisms of bio-psychological development, Baldwin argued for the interplay of habit and accommodation as expressed through the circular reaction. This view came to exert a significant influence on the thought of Jean Piaget and, through Piaget, on modern developmental psychology.”(Thoemmes Press)