Charles de Secondat, baron de Montesquieu. De L'Esprit Des Loix Ou Du Rapport Que Les Loix Doivent Avoir Avec La C... (Total: 2 Items)

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Montesquieu's "Spirit of the Laws"

Montesquieu, Charles de Secondat, baron de. De L'Espirit Des Loix Ou Du Rapport Que Les Loix Doivent Avoir Avec La Constitution De Chaque Gouvernement, Les Moeurs, Le Climat, La Religion, Ler Commerce, &c...Des recherches nouvelles sur les Loix Romaines touchant les Successions, sur les Loix Franoises, & sur les Loix FŽodales. Geneva: [Paris] Bar[r]illot & Fils, [Prault] [1748]. 4to. 2 vols. 250 x 185mm. 4,a-c4,A-3T4,3V2 (3V2 blank); ¹2, a-b4, A-4A4, 4B2. [8],xxiv,522;[2],xvi,564p. Contemp. French mottled calf, spines extra-gilt, banded , titles on red and green morocco label, minor chipping at heads, marbled endpapers, bookplate of Congregation of Notre Dame, Maison de Oiseaux; minor foxing and stains [a2-b2 vol streaks], a very good copy. Printer's devices on t.p. Second "pirated" edition, first issue. "In many ways one of the most remarkable works of the eighteenth century... It took four years to write, and when it was finished almost all his friends advised him not to publish it. Montesquieu paid no attention and it was printed in Geneva in the autumn of 1748. It consists of six main sections, the first dealing with law in general and different forms of government, and the second with the means of government, military matters taxation and so on. The third deals with national character and the effect on it of climate; a subject of peculiar originality and one of the most discussed at the time. The fourth and fifth deal with economic matters and religion; the last is an appendix on law-- Roman, feudal and modern French. The most distinctive aspect of this immense syllabus is its moderation: a quality not designed to achieve official approval in 1748. It is an always original survey which is neither doctrinaire, visionary, eccentric, nor over-systematic.... the scheme that emerges of a liberal benevolent monarchy limited by safeguards on individual liberty was to prove immensely influential... his theories underlay the thinking which led up to the American and French revolutions, and the United States Constitution in particular is a lasting tribute to the principles he advocated." [PMM]
The first appearance of the Loix was quickly followed by a Parisian unauthorized reprint which looked like the original except that the printer's name lacks a "r" in the imprint and in this first state, there is an errata at the end. Tchemerzine VIII,460. Printing and the Mind of Man 197 [original edition]. Kress 4920. Goldsmith's 8375. Brunet III,1859. Le Petit 496/7. Claudin-Rochebilliere 797. Law. Philosophy. Feudalism. Economics. PMM. Sociology. Science. France.Political Science. Govenment.