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What larger work was An Essay on Man meant to introduce?

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Portrait of poet Alexander Pope — Alexander Pope Alexander Pope, portrait by Thomas Hudson, c. 1739; in the National Portrait Gallery, London.

An Essay on Man was intended to serve as an introductory book for a grand, overarching work concerning the relations of man, nature, and society. This ambitious project was envisioned by Alexander Pope as a comprehensive organization of human experience and intuition, often described as a "system of ethics in the Horatian way".1

Ultimately, Pope never completed this larger work, as he was diverted by other literary pursuits, including his satires and personal defenses.21