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ERNST CASSIRER. Herausgegeben von P. Arthur Schlipp. Stuttgart, Kohlhammer Verlag, 1949. (6), 634 pp. 8vo. Cloth. The important and sought after German edition of The philosophy of E. Cassirer. Includes extensive bibliography. EUR 75
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(ARGENSON, R.L. DE VOYER D'.) Les loisirs d'un ministre, ou Essais dans le goût de ceux de Montagne, composés, en 1736, par l'auteur des 'Considérations sur le gouvernement de France'. A Amsterdam, 1787. 2 volumes in 1. 240 pp.; 240 pp. 8vo. Contemporary marbled calf, spine gilt with raised bands, label with gilt lettering, red edges. Originally published as Essais dans le goût de ceux de Montagne in 1785 but in an edition of 250 copies only for friends of the author. Published by his son, Voyer de Paulmy. d'Argenson played an important role in the history of France in the 18th century and was a 'homme des lettres' who entertained a large 'salon'. The above work is a portrait-gallery of contemporaries, it contains reflections of the author on what he read, and considerations on France and French society in the 18th century. EUR 300
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(BAILLY, S.) Discours et mémoires, par l'auteur de l'Histoire de l'astronomie. A Paris, Chez De Bure, 1790. With folding table. 2 volumes. (4), 454 pp.; (4), 434 pp. 8vo. Modern half morocco, spine gilt in compartments, marbled boards. Martin & Walter 1192. First collective edition of previously published pieces, rare. Volume 1 contains eulogies of Corneille, Molière, Leibnitz, Captain Cook, etc., volume 2 contains reports on magnetism, on the project of a new Hôtel-de-Dieu, etc., for the greater part edited and signed collectively with Franklin, Le Roy, Guillotin, Lavoisier, a.o.Jean-Sylvain Bailly was a brilliant scientist and a politician. His scientific successes brought him admission to the prestigious Académie des Sciences in 1763, and he was later admitted to the Académie française and appointed to the Académie des Belles-Lettres by the king, at which time he was the only man together with de Fontenelle, to hold the distinction of membership of all three academies. The first volume of the present work, although not considered to be a literary masterpiece, reveals Bailly's theory of government: he loved the king and respected the institution of the monarchy, but he also believed fervently in a meritocracy, which was neither present nor possible under an absolute monarchy. Bailly researched the theories of Mesmer and his disciples and unmasked them as charletans and he reported on the conditions in the hospitals and slaughterhouses. EUR 800
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(BARBEU-DUBOURG, J.) Petit Code de la Raison Humaine, ou Exposition succinte de ce que dicte à tous les hommes, Pour éclairer leur conduite & assurer leur bonheur. Par M.B.D. (Paris), 1789. (iii)-xxii (misnumbered xxiv), 112 (misnumbered 114) pp. 12mo. Modern half calf, marbled boards, spine gilt in compartments, gilt lettering. Echeverria & Wilkie 789/7; INED 218; no edition in Kress; no edition in Goldsmiths; no edition in Einaudi; not in Sabin. Final edition of this little collection of 102 maxims and reflexions forming a perfect abridged statement of the philosophy of the Enlightenment.'Both signatures a and b have had the first leaf of each cancelled; no located copy still has them present' (Echeverria & Wilkie). After the half-title and title the numbering of the prelims is: vii-ix, verso of ix an unnumbered blank page, ix again, verso numbered xii, xv-xxiv. This is a copy with a5r numbered ix (see Echeverria & Wilkie). The dedication is 'A Monsieur B.F. (i.e. Benjamin Franklin). - Small tear in outer blank margin of the title-page and a few unobtrusive spots, verso title-page and recto last page with strengthened inner margin. The first edition was published in 1774 and a second one was printed in 1782 in Paris on the press of Benjamin Franklin. Livingston (19) writes: 'It was again printed in 1789, a close copy, typographically, of Franklin's Passy press edition, and this is the only edition recorded in the Catalogue of the Bibliothèque Nationale (1914).' According to Quérard (I, 175), this edition 'est plus complète que les autres', and he adds 'ce petit traité renferme beaucoup d'idées sur le commerce maritime.' 'Éloge de la famille et du mariage, du travail, de la tolérance. Défense du droit de propriété et de l'impôt foncier. Idées agrariennes sur la population et l'agriculture' (INED). On page 87 these lines on the USA: 'La Pensylvanie est le premier pays policé de l'univers où la tolérance réciproque de tous les cultes religieux ait été garantie par une loi authentique.'The pages 89-90 are omitted in the numbering, page (91)-end contains notes to the various maxims. EUR 900
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(BEAUSOBRE, L. DE.) Essai sur le Bonheur, ou Réflexions Philosophiques sur les biens et les maux de la vie humaine. A Berlin, Chez A. Haude & J.C. Spener, 1758. 220 pp. 12mo. Contemporary boards, paper labels to spine. Conlon 58:493; Schosler, p. 26; Cioranescu 10861. First edition, rare. Louis de Beausobre (1730-1783), son of Isaac de Beausobre, French author born in Berlin into a family of emigrated protestants. Frederic the Great took care of his education and made him his advisor for French affairs. He became a member of the Berlin Academy of Sciences in 1753.This work is a defense of philosophical optimism echoeing the 'tout est bien' conclusions that many derived from Leibniz's Theodicy. He elaborates on this theory before entering into a detailed defense of it, examining the differences between what came to be known as natural evil and moral evil. - Bound in at the end the catalogue of Cl. and Ant. Philibert of 'Livres qui se trouvent en nombre, ou qui sont sous Presse à Geneve & à Coppenhague'. With the Lasberg library label on spine. EUR 900
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(CHASTELLUX, F.J. DE.) De la félicité publique, ou considérations sur le sort des hommes dans les différentes époques de l'histoire. Nouvelle édition, augmentée de notes inédites de Voltaire. Paris, A.A. Renouard, 1822. 2 volumes. (4), 350 pp.; (4), 332 pp. 8vo. Contemporary half calf, spines gilt in compartments, gilt lettering, paper covered boards, corners. Not in Kress (cf.: 7197); not in INED (cf.: 1075); Goldsmiths 23385; Einaudi 1038. 'Chastellux's analysis of American society was both more searching and influential. A member of the French Academy, one of the founders of the social sciences, and major general on Rochambeau's staff, he was easily the foremost intellectual in the French forces in America. In ..... De la Félicité, he had sought to determine whether "society is susceptible, if not of perfection, at least amelioration," that is, of an increase in human felicity. (.....) The only possible answer was in social reform. The function of government, he posited, was to achieve "the greatest hapiness of the greatest number." Man must create through the free and enlightened use of his reason a liberal government midway between the extremes of of pure democracy and pure absolutism, based upon a true understanding of economic principles (Physiocracy), which would guarantee a high standard of living, adequate leisure, and the right to private property. In this work Chastellux had cited America as an example of man's ability to progress through liberty, reason, equality and agriculturism" (See at length: D. Echeverria, Mirage in the West, p. 110-14). - Very lightly paperspotted. EUR 450
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(CHASTELLUX, F.J. DE.) De la félicité publique, ou considérations sur le sort des hommes dans les différentes époques de l'histoire. A Amsterdam, Chez M.-M. Rey, 1776. 2 volumes in 1. (4), xxii, 272, (2) pp.; (2), 247, (3) pp. 8vo. Contemporary marbled calf, spines gilt with raised bands. Cf.: Kress 7197; Goldsmiths 11375; INED 1075; Echeverria & Wilkie 776/6; not in Sabin; not in JFBL. Second edition, the work had been first launched in Amsterdam in 1772 before a French publisher dared to bring it on the market in France. That French publication was simultaneously with the present publication. 'Chastellux's analysis of American society was both more searching and influential. A member of the French Academy, one of the founders of the social sciences, and major general on Rochambeau's staff, he was easily the foremost intellectual in the French forces in America. In an earlier work, De la Félicité, he had sought to determine whether "society is susceptible, if not of perfection, at least amelioration," that is, of an increase in human felicity. (.....) The only possible answer was in social reform. The function of government, he posited, was to achieve "the greatest hapiness of the greatest number." Man must create through the free and enlightened use of his reason a liberal government midway between the extremes of of pure democracy and pure absolutism, based upon a true understanding of economic principles (Physiocracy), which would guarantee a high standard of living, adequate leisure, and the right to private property. In this earlier work Chastellux had cited America as an example of man's ability to progress through liberty, reason, equality and agriculturism" (See at length: D. Echeverria, Mirage in the West, p. 110-14). EUR 750
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(DELISLE DE SALES, J.B.C.; PSEUD. OF J.B. ISOARD.) De la philosophie de la nature, ou traité de la morale pour le genre humain, tiré de la philosophie et fondé sur la nature. Cinqième édition et la seule conforme au manuscritoriginal. A Londres, et se trouve dans la plûpart des capitales de l'Europe, 1789. With engraved frontispieceand 13 engraved plates. 7 volumes. (2), clxlii, 256 pp.; (2), 351 pp.; (2), 418 pp.; (2), 422 pp.; (2), 452 pp. (2), 419 pp.; (2), 413 pp. 8vo. Contemporary half calf, spine gilt in compartments, title labels with gilt lettering, marbled boards. Peignot, Livres condamnés, i, pp. 96-98; Schosler p. 60; cf.: INED 1331; Darnton, The Corpus of Clandestine Literature in France 1769-1789, 542. Fifth edition. The best and most complete editon of this work which forced the author into exile while his property was confiscated. The first edition was published in 1766 and caused a scandal. In it, he professed atheism, nihilism, and the work was condamned to be burnt. Deslisle fought the decision and was supported by the philosophes who championed him as the champion of freedom of thought. They organized a collection on behalf of his defence (to which Voltaire donated 500 livres) and although he was discharged by the Parlement he nevertheless fled to Ferney were 'Le Patriarche' urged him to go to Prussia (see at length: Belin, Le mouvement philosophique, pp. 301-306). EUR 800
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(DIDEROT, D.) "Supplément au Voyage de Bougainville" [printed in:] Opuscules philosophiques et littéraires, la plupart posthumes ou inédites, (edited by J.B.A. Suard and S.J. Boudet de Vauxcelles). Paris, Imprimerie de Chevet, 1796. (16), 270, (2) pp. 8vo. Modern half green morocco, corners, marbled boards, spine gilt in compartments, all edges gilt. INED 4256; O'Reilly & Reitman 9275; Kroepelien 1320. First edition and one of the few copies printed in 8vo and on 'papier vélin', the others being in 12mo on ordinary paper. Diderot's Supplément au Voyage de Bougainville was written circa 1772 and appears in print here for the first time. The lyrical descriptions by Bougainville of Tahiti in his Voyage autour du Monde (1771) captivated the European imagination with its vision of a people innocent of European notions of power, property and religion, and one with nature. Diderot's 'Supplement' is generally regarded as the classic literary expression of these themes and, although it does not unequivocally endorse the supposed blessings of the state of nature, 'there is no question that Diderot's work on the whole is one of the most comprehensive and enthusiastic panegyrics of primitivism in the century' (A. Owen Aldridge, "The State of Nature: an undiscovered country in the history of ideas", in Studies on Voltaire and the Eighteenth Century XCVII, 1972, p. 16).In the 'Supplement' Diderot 'met en scène, dans ce dialogue, deux personnages anonymes qui épiloguent sur le voyage de Bougainville et en lisent un prétendu 'Supplément' contenant le discours d'adieu d'un vieux Tahitien au moment du départ de Bougainville, ainsi que l'entretien entre Orou et l'aumônier. Avec un cynisme autorisé par la non-publication, Diderot a cherché à établir dans cet essai le fondement d'une morale nouvelle et conforme à la nature; et à propos de cette morale, il reprend tout le procès de la civilisation. Document capitale qui résume toute la philosophie d'un homme, d'un groupe de penseurs et de toute une époque, et que la voyage de Bougainville a servi à polariser' (O'Reilly & Reitman). Lichtenberger, quoted in INED, called this work "Le summum de la litérature sauvage du XVIIIe."This collection of inedited and/or posthumous works contains, apart from the described work by Diderot, another work by Diderot, entitled Entretien d'un philosophe and further more: 'Réflexions sur le Bonheur' by Mme du Chatelet, 'Anecdotes sur le Roi de Prusse' by Thomas, 'Du Bonheur des Sots' by Necker,' 'Le Bon Homme; Le Vrai Philosophe' by Dumarsais and 'Les Femmes, Dialogue' by Galiani. EUR 4000
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(DUCLOS, C.P.) Considérations sur les moeurs de ce siècle. A Amsterdam, Aux dépens de la Compagnie, 1751. Title printed in red and black, with title-vignette.(4), 366 pp. 8vo. Contemporary half calf, marbled boards, raised bands (uncut). Conlon 51:580; Higgs 226; INED 1511; not in Mattioli. One of three editions from the year of first publication: Conlon lists an edition without publisher or place, INED lists a Paris edition. Duclos deals with individual morality and states that the best government is that which makes the largest number of people happy. In favor of agriculture, 'utile à tous.' 'Sociologie morale' (INED). Important social study on the 18th century by the historiographer of Louis XV. - One quire misbound. EUR 300
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(DUPONT DE NEMOURS, P.S.) Philosophie de l'univers. Troisième édition, augmentée de plusieurs notes, et d'une table des matières. A Paris, Chez Goujon fils, Fructidor an VII (1799). With a fine portrait engraved by Cathelin afterJ. Ducreux. 399, (1) pp. 8vo. Contemporary boards (uncut). Schelle 64; Einaudi 1673; Mattioli 1081 (2nd edition); not in Kress; not in Goldsmiths. Third, enlarged edition. Because Dupont de Nemours sided with the King in 1792, he was imprisoned in the observatory of the Mazarin College, from which he succeeded in escaping to the country-side. During the time that elapsed before he was discovered and arrested again, he wrote the above work in the form of a letter to Lavoisier. This enlarged edition starts with 'Oromasis. Poëme'. The main text starts on page 37/38 with a separate titlepage reading 'Principes et recherches sur la philosophie de l'univers. Lettre à Mr. et Mme. Lavoisier.' The titlepage bears the date 1792. See: Schelle, Du Pont de Nemours, pp. 331 ff. EUR 1250
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(FICHTE, J.G.) Beitrag zur Berichtigung des Publikums über die französische Revolution. Erster Theil [- Erster Theil ... Zweites Heft]. Zur Beurtheilung ihrer Rechtmäßichkeit. No place, 1793. - (Bound with:) WURMBRAND, Jos. VON: (pseud. von Ad. KNIGGE). Josephs von Wurmbrand, kaiserlich abyssinischen Ex-Ministers, jezzigen Notarii caesarii publici in der Reichsstadt Bopfingen, politisches Glaubensbekenntniß, mit hinsicht auf die französische Revolution und deren Folgen. Frankfurt und Leipzig, 1792. 2 works in 1 volume. xxiii, (1 blank), 199, (1 blank), (2 druckfehler), 201-435, (3 nacherinnerung) pp.; viii, (2, inhalt), 173, (1) pp. Small 8vo. Contemporary boards with label (cover somewhat worn and rubbed, but solid; some light browning throughout; small stamp on title and verso). First work: Baumgartner & Jacobs, A1, 4x and 4x a. First edition of Fichte's principal work, very rare, all published. The leaders in German literary life were almost unanimous in welcoming the 1789 revolutionary events in France. Philosophers like Kant, Herder, Fichte, poets like Klopstock, Hölderlin and Wieland were enraptured by what they heard. Even when some of them like Fichte and Knigge were aware by 1791 of the continuing political unrest and upheaval, they kept defending the true principles and motives of the revolution against its detractors in terms which had impressed many of its readers as being subversively democratic: '...und so scheint mir die französische Revolution ein reiches Gemälde über den grossen Tert: Menschenrecht und Menschenwert' (from the introduction of Fichte's work). But the historical phenomenon was even more important because it formed the basis of Fichte's philosopical insights: the originality of Fichte's ethical system consisted in the synthesis it established between the autonomous ethics originating in Kant and the French Revolution, and social and anti-individualistic ethics. Contrary to the way he was later recepted, Fichte did not support but combat agressive nationalism and pan-Germanism; in fact his views harmonized with his cosmopolitan idea of Humanism. Through his followers (like Krause and others who also published in French) Fichte influenced many later social thinkers like Proudhon and Carlyle. The work was written in Zürich were Fichte worked as a tutor to meet his financial needs. Despite this difficulty, it proved to be decisive for his future career through the expansion of his social contacts and the intensive study of Kant. Second work: Goedeke, IV 1, 617,25.First edition, rare. Adolp Freiherr Knigge (1752-1796) mostly known through his popular social ethics ' .... über den Umgang mit Menschen ....' also wrote three anonymously published 'Staatsromane' of which this is one. Already during his lifetime Knigge was considered a 'German jacobin', attacked and prosecuted as such. It required some courage to criticise so openly German absolutism and discuss the causes and necessity of the French revolution and the effects on other European countries. Just like Fichte, he thought the political change to be legitimate, and though he disapproves of the terror, he excuses it because of the agelong suppression of the French people. Knigge advocated democratic institutions and prepared by this the civil revolution which seemed inevitable to him. EUR 2500
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(GRAILLARD DE GRAVILLE, B.C.) Entendons-nous. Ouvrage posthume de M. Gobbe-Mouche. (Paris), aux Boulevards, (1760). 39, (1) pp. Small 8vo. Modern boards. Conlon 60:796. First edition. Aphorisms on theatre, writers, women, etc. The author was editor of the Recueil A-Z. EUR 175
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(HELVETIUS, C.A.) De l'esprit. A La Haye, Chez Pierre Moetjens, (Provins, Michelin), 1759. With title-vignettes, and titles printed in red and black. 3 volumes bound in 2. (4), viii, 244, x, 96 pp.; (4), 97-219 (misnumbered 209), (1), xi, (1) pp.; (4), 166, iv, 34 pp. 12mo. Contemporary marbled calf, spines gilt with raised bands, red and green labels with gilt lettering (one corner lightly damaged). Smith E.10; Keim p. 714; Thomas, Checklist, p. 72; not in Tchemerzine-Scheler. Rare clandestine edition, made 'à la Hollandaise' by Michelins in Provins, of this epoch-making work which brought together the 'philosophes' in a common front against their ennemies (see: Belin, Commerce des livres prohibés, p. 102). - Name of J. Verdereau stamped in blue on half-titles of volumes i & ii, handwritten on title-page of volume ii, and stamped and handwritten on title-page of volume i. Part of the text of the second volume has been bound after the first volume, in the first tome, the title-page and the half-title having been bound in before page 97 of the second volume, with which the second tome starts. Our copy has on the second title-page 'Pierre Motjens'. Vol. 3 contains also, with separate pagination, Lettre au R. Berthier, sur le matérialisme by the Abbé G.F. Coyer. The half-title and title-page of vol. 2 have been bound between the pages 96-97 of the 2nd volume.Claude Adrien Helvétius (1715-1771) obtained the lucrative post of fermier-général in which he soon grew rich. He became known, however, for the philantropic and enlightened uses he made of his great wealth, particularly as a patron of the philosophers and men of letters. He resigned in 1751 from tax-farming, married and retired to his country estate, thenceforth devoting himself primarily to philosophical and literary persuits. The publication in 1758 of his principal work, De l'Esprit, proved to be one of the ideological causes célébres of the eighteenth century. Appearing at a moment of political reaction, De l'Esprit was noisily condemned by the authorities, both ecclesiastical and ministerial, for its dangerously heretical and subversive opinions. No book during the eighteenth century, except perhaps Rousseau's Emile, evoked such an outcry from the religious and civil authorities or such universal public interest. Condemned as atheistic, materialistic, sacrilegious, immoral and subversive, it enjoyed a remarkable succès de scandale. It lost its privilège within a fortnight of its publication. It was attacked in Church periodicals and in polemical pamphlets, in the literary salons and in popular songs, from bishops' pulpits and from the stage of the Théâtre français. When the work appeared it was censured by the Sorbonne, the pope and the Parlement of Paris and in 1759 it was burnt by the public executioner. Even Diderot found himself unable to subscribe to it. But in spite of Diderot's systematic refutation of the work and in spite of the fact that Helvétius never collaborated in the Encyclopédie the authorities held the sensationalistic philosophy expounded by the encyclopédistes responsible for Helvétius dangerous principles. The appearance of De l'Esprit was thus an important factor in the second suppression of the Encyclopédie. The thought of Helvétius sprang mainly from the predominant current of sensualism in the Enlightenment, which he fashioned with marked originality into what may be described as a thoroughgoing doctrine of 'environmental behaviorism'. EUR 1000
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(HELVETIUS, C.A.) De l'esprit. A La Haye, Chez Pierre Moetjens, (Provins, Michelin), 1759. With title-vignettes, titles printed inred and black. 3 volumes. (4), viii, x, 244 pp.; (4), xi, 209 pp.; (4), 166, iv, 34 pp. 12mo. Contemporary polished calf, spines gilt in compartments, gilt fillets on sides, gilt lettering to spine, a very good copy. Smith, E.10; Keim p. 714; Thomas, Checklist, p. 72; not in Tchemerzine-Scheler. Rare clandestine edition, made 'à la Hollandaise' by Michelins in Provins, of this epoch-making work which brought together the 'philosophes' in a common front against their ennemies (see: Belin, Commerce des livres prohibés, p. 102). - In this copy the 'Tables sommaires' are bound before the 'discourses.' Claude Adrien Helvétius (1715-1771) obtained the lucrative post of fermier-général in which he soon grew rich. He became known, however, for the philantropic and enlightened uses he made of his great wealth, particularly as a patron of the philosophers and men of letters. He resigned in 1751 from tax-farming, married and retired to his country estate, thenceforth devoting himself primarily to philosophical and literary persuits. The publication in 1758 of his principal work, De l'Esprit, proved to be one of the ideological causes célébres of the eighteenth century. Appearing at a moment of political reaction, De l'Esprit was noisily condemned by the authorities, both ecclesiastical and ministerial, for its dangerously heretical and subversive opinions. No book during the eighteenth century, except perhaps Rousseau's Emile, evoked such an outcry from the religious and civil authorities or such universal public interest. Condemned as atheistic, materialistic, sacrilegious, immoral and subversive, it enjoyed a remarkable succès de scandale. It lost its privilège within a fortnight of its publication. It was attacked in Church periodicals and in polemical pamphlets, in the literary salons and in popular songs, from bishops' pulpits and from the stage of the Théâtre français. When the work appeared it was censured by the Sorbonne, the pope and the Parlement of Paris and in 1759 it was burnt by the public executioner. Even Diderot found himself unable to subscribe to it. But in spite of Diderot's systematic refutation of the work and in spite of the fact that Helvétius never collaborated in the Encyclopédie the authorities held the sensationalistic philosophy expounded by the encyclopédistes responsible for Helvétius dangerous principles. The appearance of De l'Esprit was thus an important factor in the second suppression of the Encyclopédie. The thought of Helvétius sprang mainly from the predominant current of sensualism in the Enlightenment, which he fashioned with marked originality into what may be described as a thoroughgoing doctrine of 'environmental behaviorism'. EUR 1000
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(HOLBACH, P.H.D.TH. D') Ethocratie, ou le governement fondé sur la morale. A Amsterdam, Chez Marc-Michel Rey, 1776 (Paris, EDHIS, 1967). (12), 293, (3) pp. 8vo. Boards. Vercruysse 1776-A3; Naville 419; Thomas, Checklist, p. 76; Goldsmiths 11509; not in Kress or Einaudi. Reprint of the first edition of one of the rarest works by Holbach, with the errata. Published in a limited and numbered edition of 500 copies. Among other things, Holbach argues in this work that 'the social pact (between individual and the State) itself is based on the useful services that the individual and society are able to render to one another, and it remains valid only to the extent that its mutually benificial aims are fulfilled. Since, therefore, the legitimacy of any governement varies directly with the happiness of one and all living under it, Holbach proclaimed with courageous logic the people's right, if there were no other hope of assuring their welfare, to overthrow and replace their rulers. More specifically, Holbach proposed radical political and economic reforms for France in keeping with the ethocratic ideal. He advocated, as against the extremes of republicanism and enlightened despotism, a limited constitutional monarchy, in which intermediate parliamentary bodies would represent the interest of society and would maintain a balance between the opposing dangers of either popular or autocratic tyranny. He called for the abolition of the heriditary class privileges, ..... defended the principle of progressive taxation, ..... insisted on the complete separation of Church of State. Freedom of the press and of thought were to be inviolable ....' EUR 175
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(HOLBACH, P.H.D.TH. D'.) Système social, ou principes naturels de la morale et de la politique. Avec un examen de l'influence du gouvernement sur les moeurs. Par l'auteur du 'Système de la nature'. Londres (Amsterdam, M.M. Rey), 1774. 3 volumes. (4), 210 pp.; 176 pp.; 167, (1) pp. 8vo. Contemporary calf, spines richly gilt with green leather labels and gilt lettering, gilt triple fillets on sides, some minor defects and imperfections, but a nice copy. Vercruysse 1774-A6; Naville 419; Thomas, Checklist, 78. The work was severely prosecuted by the authorities and as late as 1823 a bookseller was punished for having brought another edition on the market. Paul-Henri Dietrich Thiery d'Holbach (1723-1789), the formemost exponent of atheistic materialism and the most intransigent polemicist against religion in the Enlightenment. On settling in Paris, Holbach had associated with the younger philosophes who, with Diderot, d'Alembert and Rousseau, were grouping around the Encyclopédie, to which he also became a major contributor. His Salon soon became the main social center, and a sort of intellectual headquarters, for the Encyclopedist movement. Among those attending were Diderot, Grimm, Helvétius, d'Alembert, Rousseau, Boulanger, Condillac, Naigeon, Turgot, and Condorcet. The Baron also counted among his acquaintances many foreigners, notably Hume, Gibbon, Smith, Priestley, Walpole, Garrick, Sterne, Beccaria and Franklin. It is little surprizing that Holbach was also known as le premier maître d'hôtel de la philosophie. Almost everything he wrote -whether because it expounded atheism and materialism, attacked Christianity, or castigated absolute monarchy, the state church, and feudal privilege- was highly subversive under the Ancien régime and could have exposed him to the severst penalties. Consequently, his innumerable manuscripts were usually forwarded through secret channels to Holland for publication, after which the books were smuggled back into France. - Pages 123-160 (vol. 1) with a small wornhole in the outer blank margin. EUR 750
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(HOLBACH, P.H.D.TH. D'.) Système social, ou Principes naturels de la morale et de la politique. Avec un examen de l'influence du gouvernement sur les moeurs. Londres (Amsterdam, M.M. Rey), 1773. 3 volumes in 1. 318 pp.; 252 pp.; (iv), 239, (1) pp. Small 8vo. Contemporary marbled calf, spine gilt with raised bands, gilt lettering, gilt fillet on sides, marbled edges. Vercruysse 1773-A6; Naville 419; Thomas, Checklist, 78; R. Darnton, The Corpus of Clandestine Literature in France, 1769-1789, 662; Kress S.4739; Goldsmiths 10952; Einaudi 2911; Higgs 5873. The third issue listed by Vercruysse, who had seen only the copy from the collection Michel Bernstein. It is apparently a very rare issue. Paul-Henri Dietrich Thiery d'Holbach (1723-1789), the formemost exponent of atheistic materialism and the most intransigent polemicist against religion in the Enlightenment. On settling in Paris, Holbach had associated with the younger philosophes who, with Diderot, d'Alembert and Rousseau, were grouping around the Encyclopédie, to which he also became a major contributor. His Salon soon became the main social center, and a sort of intellectual headquarters, for the Encyclopedist movement. Among those attending were Diderot, Grimm, Helvétius, d'Alembert, Rousseau, Boulanger, Condillac, Naigeon, Turgot, and Condorcet. The Baron also counted among his acquaintances many foreigners, notably Hume, Gibbon, Smith, Priestley, Walpole, Garrick, Sterne, Beccaria and Franklin. It is little surprizing that Holbach was also known as le premier maître d'hôtel de la philosophie. Almost everything he wrote -whether because it expounded atheism and materialism, attacked Christianity, or castigated absolute monarchy, the state church, and feudal privilege- was highly subversive under the Ancien régime and could have exposed him to the severst penalties. Consequently, his innumerable manuscripts were usually forwarded through secret channels to Holland for publication, after which the books were smuggled back into France. EUR 1000
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(HOLBACH, P.H.D.TH. D'.) Système social, ou Principes naturels de la morale et de la politique. Avec un examen de l'influence du gouvernement sur les moeurs. Londres (Amsterdam, M.M. Rey), 1773. 3 volumes in 1. viii, 218, (2) pp.; (4), 174, (2) pp.; (4), 166, (2) pp. 8vo. Contemporary marbled calf, spine richly gilt with raised bands, label and gilt lettering, red edges, tiny defect to upper front joint and lower rear joint. Vercruysse 1773-A4; Naville 419; Thomas, Checklist, 78; Kress S.4739; Goldsmiths 10952; Einaudi 2911; Higgs 5873. First edition. Paul-Henri Dietrich Thiery d'Holbach (1723-1789), the formemost exponent of atheistic materialism and the most intransigent polemicist against religion in the Enlightenment. On settling in Paris, Holbach had associated with the younger philosophes who, with Diderot, d'Alembert and Rousseau, were grouping around the Encyclopédie, to which he also became a major contributor. His Salon soon became the main social center, and a sort of intellectual headquarters, for the Encyclopedist movement. Among those attending were Diderot, Grimm, Helvétius, d'Alembert, Rousseau, Boulanger, Condillac, Naigeon, Turgot, and Condorcet. The Baron also counted among his acquaintances many foreigners, notably Hume, Gibbon, Smith, Priestley, Walpole, Garrick, Sterne, Beccaria and Franklin. It is little surprizing that Holbach was also known as le premier maître d'hôtel de la philosophie. Almost everything he wrote -whether because it expounded atheism and materialism, attacked Christianity, or castigated absolute monarchy, the state church, and feudal privilege- was highly subversive under the Ancien régime and could have exposed him to the severst penalties. Consequently, his innumerable manuscripts were usually forwarded through secret channels to Holland for publication, after which the books were smuggled back into France. EUR 1200
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(HOLBACH, P.H.D.TH. D'.) Système social, ou Principes naturels de la morale et de la politique. Avec un examen de l'influence du gouvernement sur les moeurs. Londres (Amsterdam, M.M. Rey), 1773. 3 volumes. viii, 218, (2) pp.; (4), 174, (2) pp.; (4), 166, (2) pp. 8vo. Contemporary tree calf, spines richly gilt with labels and gilt lettering. Vercruysse 1773-A4; Naville 419; Thomas, Checklist, 78; Kress S.4739; Goldsmiths 10952; Einaudi 2911; Higgs 5873; R. Darnton, The Corpus of Clandestine Literature in France, 1769-1789, 662. First edition. Paul-Henri Dietrich Thiery d'Holbach (1723-1789), the foremost exponent of atheistic materialism and the most intransigent polemicist against religion in the Enlightenment. On settling in Paris, Holbach had associated with the younger philosophes who, with Diderot, d'Alembert and Rousseau, were grouping around the Encyclopédie, to which he also became a major contributor. His Salon soon became the main social center, and a sort of intellectual headquarters, for the Encyclopedist movement. Among those attending were Diderot, Grimm, Helvétius, d'Alembert, Rousseau, Boulanger, Condillac, Naigeon, Turgot, and Condorcet. The Baron also counted among his acquaintances many foreigners, notably Hume, Gibbon, Smith, Priestley, Walpole, Garrick, Sterne, Beccaria and Franklin. It is little surprizing that Holbach was also known as le premier maître d'hôtel de la philosophie. Almost everything he wrote -whether because it expounded atheism and materialism, attacked Christianity, or castigated absolute monarchy, the state church, and feudal privilege- was highly subversive under the Ancien régime and could have exposed him to the most severe penalties. Consequently, his innumerable manuscripts were usually forwarded through secret channels to Holland for publication, after which the books were smuggled back into France. EUR 1100
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(HOLBACH, P.H.D.TH. D'.) Système social, ou Principes naturels de la morale et de la politique. Avec un examen de l'influence du gouvernement sur les moeurs. Londres (Amsterdam, M.M. Rey), 1773. 3 volumes in 1. viii, 218, (2) pp.; (4), 174, (2) pp.; (4), 166, (2) pp. 8vo. Contemporary calf, spine richly gilt with leather labels and gilt lettering, gilt triple line border on sides, lightly worn. Vercruysse 1773-A4; Naville 419; Thomas, Checklist, 78; Kress S.4739; Goldsmiths 10952; Einaudi 2911; Higgs 5873; R. Darnton, The Corpus of Clandestine Literature in France, 1769-1789, 662. First edition. Paul-Henri Dietrich Thiery d'Holbach (1723-1789), the formemost exponent of atheistic materialism and the most intransigent polemicist against religion in the Enlightenment. On settling in Paris, Holbach had associated with the younger philosophes who, with Diderot, d'Alembert and Rousseau, were grouping around the Encyclopédie, to which he also became a major contributor. His Salon soon became the main social center, and a sort of intellectual headquarters, for the Encyclopedist movement. Among those attending were Diderot, Grimm, Helvétius, d'Alembert, Rousseau, Boulanger, Condillac, Naigeon, Turgot, and Condorcet. The Baron also counted among his acquaintances many foreigners, notably Hume, Gibbon, Smith, Priestley, Walpole, Garrick, Sterne, Beccaria and Franklin. It is little surprizing that Holbach was also known as le premier maître d'hôtel de la philosophie. Almost everything he wrote -whether because it expounded atheism and materialism, attacked Christianity, or castigated absolute monarchy, the state church, and feudal privilege- was highly subversive under the Ancien régime and could have exposed him to the severst penalties. Consequently, his innumerable manuscripts were usually forwarded through secret channels to Holland for publication, after which the books were smuggled back into France. EUR 1100
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(KRETZSCHMAR, R.W.) Lodovico Dolce. Ein Beitrag zur Geschichte der italienischen Pädagogik im 16.Jahrhundert. (Leipzig, 1886). 51, (1) pp. 8vo. Original printed covers (Dissertation, philosophischen Facultät Leipzig). First edition. Ludovico Dolce was an Italian writer, native of Venice, and belonged to a family of honourable tradition but decadent fortune. He produced a vast amount of translations from Greek and Latin epics, satires, histories, plays and treatises on language and art. EUR 75
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(LE MAITRE). Essais de métaphisique. De l'Imprimerie Bibliographique. A Paris, Chez Léopold Collin, 1809. iv, 74 pp. 8vo. Sewn, disbound. Barbier, Dictionnaire des Ouvrages Anonymes, vol. 2, p. 269. First edition. Barbier states that the author was 'ancien payeur du trésor de la couronne'. States among others that poetry has suffered from the invention of printing. In the preface the suggestion is made, that the text is a partial translation from the German.Apart from general metaphysics, the book deals with the philosophy of art. EUR 150
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(LEVESQUE DE POUILLY, L.J.) Theorie des sentimens agréables, où après avoir indiqué les règles que la nature suit dans la distribution du plaisir, on établit les principes de la théologie naturelle, et ceux de la philosophie morale. A Paris, Chez Debure père, 1774. With engraved frontispiece and 2 engraved plates. xxxii, 352, (4) pp. 12mo. Contemporary marbled calf, spine gilt with raised bands. Schosler, p. 114; Bibliothèque Voltaire, 2111. First published in 1736. This is the 5th edition enlarged by an Eloge historique de l'auteur, two discourses the author had held in Reims and contains also his description of an antique monument found in Reims. The content of this work is described in Michaud as 'le dessein de Levesque est de prouver que le bonheur est dans la pratique des devoirs.' EUR 350
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(LONGUE, L.P. DE.) Les princesses malabares, ou le célibat philosophique. Ouvrage intéressant et curieux avec des notes historiques et critiques. A Andrinople, Chez Thomas Franco, 1734. (12), 201, (3) pp. 12mo in 6's. Contemporary marbled calf, spine with raised bands and gilt lettering, slightly damaged at head and foot of spine, a bit rubbed. Hartig, p. 46 (according to Hartig the work has also been attributed to Lenglet du Fresnoy and to P. Quesnel); Peignot, Livres condamnés, ii, p. 53; Cioranescu 40825; Weller, ii, p. 97; not in Negley; not in Trousson; not in Valette; not in Gove; not in Versins. First edition. The key to the author is given by Drujon in his Livres à clef (vol. ii, 808-809). Allegorical and satirical utopia, especially satirizing religious history. 'Écrites dans un style métaphorique rempli d'énigmes et d'allégories, les pensées de Longue sont assez difficilement saisissables. Chronologe critique des principaux systèmes religieux qui ont 'tyranisé le genre humain'' (INED).All the names are anagrams: at the end one finds three pages giving the key to the names. The work was prohibited after its publication and burnt by 'Arrêt du Parlement du 31 décembre 1734'. - Some slight browning. EUR 500
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(MIRABEAU, H.G. RIQUETTI DE.) Essai sur le despotisme. Seconde édition, augmentée & corrigée par l'éditeur de cet ouvrage. Londres, 1776. (2), viii, 308 pp. 8vo. Contemporary marbled calf, spine gilt in compartments with label and gilt lettering, lightly shaved, corners somewhat bumped. Goldsmiths 11518; INED 3188 (1831 edition); Martin & Walter 24430; Higgs 6537 (for the first and second edition). Second, revised, enlarged and corrected edition. Philosophical and political study on despotism and its effects it pretents to refute the theories of Rousseau while the author in reality attacks straight forward the government. Still to the point remains his remark that: 'La nation finit toujours par être plus puissante que le tyran lorsque le pouvoir arbitraire parvenu à son dernier délire a dissous tous les liens de l'opinion et épuisé les ressources que la terre offre à ceux qui la cultivent en liberté. Ainsi les hommes se vengent tôt ou tard.' 'Dans cet insolent libelle, intitulé Essai sur le Despotisme, sous couleur de réfuter les théories de Jean-Jacques sur la bonté naturelle de l'homme, l'auteur s'attaquait de front aux pouvoirs.' (Duc de Castries, Mirabeau, p. 105). Important work proclaiming democratic ideas and openly attacking despotism: 'Après cette vue philosophique générale, l'ouvrage s'attaquait seulement au 'despotisme d'un seul.'' (Duc de Castries, op.cit.) - With the errata at the end of page 308. EUR 450
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(MORELLY.) Naufrage des isles flottantes; ou Basiliade du célébre Pilpai. Poéme heroique. Traduit de l'indien par Mr. M******. A Messine (Paris), Par une Société de Libraires, 1753. Titles printed in red and black, with engraved frontispiece, and title-vignettes. 2 volumes. (2), xxxvii, (1), 216 pp.; (2), 307, (1, corrections) pp. 12mo. Contemporary half calf, marbled boards, spines gilt with raised bands, corners, labels and gilt lettering, somewhat rubbed, small defect to upper cover of volume one. First edition, one of the rare issues with the portrait looking to the left and a slightly different collation for the preliminaries compared to the copies ordinarely found. According to Versins in his study published in 1963 in 'Ailleurs', this is the truely first edition, first issue. Chinard however claims that the copies with the portrait looking to the right are the first issues. 'Oeuvre du fondateur du communisme. Epopée allégorique, sorte d'utopie qui propose une société meilleure. Les idées de Morelly seront plus solidement exposées dans le Code de la nature (1755). Diatribes violentes contre la propriété, mère de tous les crimes; souhait d'une postérité nombreuse; critique de l'indissolubilité du mariage (dans la société de Morelly, il n'y a d'ailleurs ni divorce, ni adultère, ni prostitution, ni grossesse honteuse); attaques portées contre le commerce capitaliste, qui ne fait vivre qu'un tiers des hommes, etc.' (INED). 'Sous une forme allégorique, l'auteur dépeint une société fondée sur des principes communistes, morcelée en petits groupes économiques indépendants, comptant chacun cent personnes. Les idées philosophiques et sociales de Morelly exposées dans cette 'épopée' ont été l'objet d'une critique acerbe de la part de ces contemporains' (Hartig & Soboul). Trousson points to the fact that Morelly's communism is of a negative sort: their is no marriage, no property, no police, no church, no privileges, etc. It is, in fact, an anarchist state, ruled only by the laws of nature, a society without any contract whatsoever and far from the Contract Social. Nothing is forbidden since one can not make any mistakes or do wrong if one follows the rules of nature (or better, nothing wrong can exist for those who live according to nature). The majority of the ideas which were later further elaborated in Morelly's Code de la Nature are already presented here. The work is considered to be one of the most important utopian works of the 18th century. EUR 3750
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(MORELLY.) Naufrage des isles flottantes; ou Basiliade du célébre Pilpai. Poéme heroique. Traduit de l'indien par Mr. M******. A Messine (Paris), Par une Société de Libraires, 1753. Title printed in red and black, with engraved frontispiece, and a title-vignette. 2 volumes. Frontispiece, (2), xli, (1), 216 pp.; (4), 307, (1) pp. 12mo. Contemporary marbled calf, richly gilt spines, red labels with gilt lettering, red edges (slightly rubbed). Negley, Utopian Literature, 810; Hartig & Soboul, p. 54; Trousson, pp. 145-150; Versins, Encyclopédie de l'Utopie et de la Science fiction, pp. 602-603; Higgs 665; INED 3319; not in Kress; not in Goldsmiths; not in Einaudi. First edition, the head on the frontispiece turned to the right (to the title-page) which is claimed by Chinard as the first issue, first edition. Versins claims that copies with the head of the frontispiece facing away from the title-page are the first issues of the first editions. 'Oeuvre du fondateur du communisme. Epopée allégorique, sorte d'utopie qui propose une société meilleure. Les idées de Morelly seront plus solidement exposées dans le Code de la nature (1755). Diatribes violentes contre la propriété, mère de tous les crimes; souhait d'une postérité nombreuse; critique de l'indissolubilité du mariage (dans la société de Morelly, il n'y a d'ailleurs ni divorce, ni adultère, ni prostitution, ni grossesse honteuse); attaques portées contre le commerce capitaliste, qui ne fait vivre qu'un tiers des hommes, etc.' (INED). 'Sous une forme allégorique, l'auteur dépeint une société fondée sur des principes communistes, morcelée en petits groupes économiques indépendants, comptant chacun cent personnes. Les idées philosophiques et sociales de Morelly exposées dans cette 'épopée' ont été l'objet d'une critique acerbe de la part de ces contemporains' (Hartig & Soboul). Trousson points to the fact that Morelly's communism is of a negative sort: their is no marriage, no property, no police, no church, no privileges, etc. It is, in fact, an anarchist state, ruled only by the laws of nature, a society without any contract whatsoever and far from the Contract Social. Nothing is forbidden since one can not make any mistakes or do wrong if one follows the rules of nature (or better, nothing wrong can exist for those who live according to nature). The majority of the ideas which were later further elaborated in Morelly's Code de la Nature are already presented here. The work is considered to be one of the most important utopian works of the 18th century. EUR 3500
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(STEVENS, J.) Examen du gouvernement d'Angleterre, comparée aux constitutions des Etats-Unis. Ou l'on réfute quelques assertions contenues dans l'ouvrage de M. Adams, intitulé: Apologie des Constitutions des Etats-Unis d'Amerique, & dans celui de M. Delolme, intitulée: De la Constitution d'Angleterre. Par un Cultivateur de New-Jersey. Ouvrage traduit de l'Anglois, & accompagné de Notes. A London, et se trouve à Paris, chez Froullé, 1789. viii, 291, (1) pp. 8vo. Contemporary half calf,green marbled boards, spine gilt with red label and gilt lettering, yellow edges. Sabin 41646; Echeverria & Wilkie 789/118; not in JFBL; Fay 25; Schelle 32; Einaudi 5482; not in Kress; not in Goldsmiths. First French edition of the text by Stevens. This translation is particularly important for the political contents of the notes which were added by Dupont de Nemours, Condorcet and Gallois, which in fact take up by far the greater part of the book (pp. 67-291). Because of these important notes this work is much sought after. Echeverria, in his work Mirage in the West, points to the fact that the American constitutions were the subject of intense interest and study during the years 1789 and 1790. In this period the new American federal Constitution and Bill of Rights were studied, discussed and cited. (pp. 163-164). The work is sometimes attributed to W. Livingstone, erroneously. See A.D. Turnbull, John Stevens, (1928), pp. 90-91. EUR 1000
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(SUZE, CHARLES DE.) Suite des Erreurs et de la vérité; ou développement du livre des hommes rappellés au principe universel de la science. Par un Ph...Inc... A Salomonopolis, Chez Androphile, à la Colonne inébranlable, MMMMM DCC LXXXIV. (4), 445, (1) pp. 8vo. Contemporary catspaw calf, spine gilt with raised bands, red edges, small repair to head of spine and to lower upper joint. Schosler, p. 163; Vercruysse, Bibliographie d'Holbach, p. 44; Caillet 9770. First edition. In 1775 Louis-Claude de Saint-Martin published his Des Erreurs et de la Vérité..... This work is apparently a counterfeit sequel to that work, attributed to Charles de Suze, author of Clef des Erreurs et de la Vérité. The work has also been attributed to Holbach and Condorcet. The present work reviews a number of the questions dealt with in the genuine work by Saint-Martin such as good and evil, liberty and necessity, but developing however the very antithesis of the teachings of Saint-Martin. Louis-Claude de Saint-Martin (1743-1803), French philosopher, known as 'le philosophe inconnu', the name under which his works were published. He came under the influence of Martinez de Pasquales who taught a species of mysticism drawn from cabbalistic sources, and endeavoured to found thereon a secret cult with magical rites. EUR 750
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(TERRASSON, J.) Sethos, histoire ou vie tirée des monumens anecdotes de l'ancienne Egypte. Traduit d'un manuscrit Grec. A Paris, Chez Jacques Guerin, 1731. Titles printed in red and black. 3 volumes. (4), xxviii, 426, xii pp.; (4), 427-562, 322 pp.; (4), 323-832 (misnumbered 842), (6, fautes à corriger) pp. 12mo. Contemporary tree calf, spines richly gilt with labels and gilt lettering. Hartig p. 45; Trousson, pp. 134-135; Negley 1092; Gove, pp. 286-287; Versins, p. 874; cf. Valette 310 (edition of 1813); Conlon 31:680. First edition. Supposed translation from a Greek manuscript describing a still innocent nation not affected by luxury and ambition. It is written in the tradition of Télémaque and is more or less conservative utopian account. 'Il s'agit d'un jeune prince égyptien qui, après son initiation aux mystères de son état, parcourt le monde et régénère tous les royaumes où regne l'injustice. Il arrivera ainsi, après avoir fait le tour de l'Afrique, jusque chez les Atlantes et découvrira là, une monarchie élective qui, visiblement, est aux yeux de notre Abbé le nec plus ultra de l'utopie' (Versins). Van Wijngaarden, in his Les Odysées Philosophiques en France entre 1616 et 1789, devotes 7 pages to the work. Hartig is the only reference work calling for 'cartes' in his description, no other reference work calls for maps. EUR 800
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(TOUSSAINT, F.V.) Les Moeurs. No place, 1748. With engraved frontispiece, 3 title-vignettes and headpieces. 3 parts in 1 volume. - (Bound with:) LES MOEURS appréciées, ou Lettre écrite à un bel esprit du Marais, à l'occasion de cet ouvrage. No place, 1748. 2 works bound in 1 volume. (4), (30), (1)-106 pp.; (2), (107)-334 pp.; (2), (335)-474 pp.; (1), 45 pp. 12mo. Contemporary calf, spine gilt with raised bands, red label with gilt lettering, lightly rubbed along joints and head and foot of spine. First work: Cioranescu, iii, 1720; Peignot, Livres condamnés, ii, 162-3; INED 4344. First issue of the first edition. Inspired by Diderot's Pensées. The author, one of Diderot's friends, denounces in this work a.o. death-penalty, which he considers a defiance of Natural Law. ' .... François-Vincent Toussaint and his famous book Les Moeurs, published in 1748 and condemned on 6 May of that year by the Parlement of Paris. Les Moeurs was one of the first (and therefore one of the boldest) works in the eighteenth century to set forth the arguments for a natural morality unbolstered by any religious belief or public cult' (Arthur M. Wilson, Diderot, pp. 53-54). 'Tout le monde, homme et femme, se piquant un peu de quelque sort d'esprit dans un certain monde, voulut voir ce livre. Chacun se demandait: Avez-vous lu le livre des Moeurs? Un seul exemplaire passait rapidement dans plusieurs mains' (Belin, Mouvement philosophique, vol. i, p. 26).Second work: Conlon 48: 188.This work is not by Toussaint. EUR 900
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AUZOU, (L.N.) Discours en refutation des mandemans de plusieurs évêques de France, au sujet du choléra, prononcé le dimanche 6 mai 1832, en l'église paroissiale de Clichy. Clichy, A Librairie catholique française, Paris, Chez Ledoyen, 1832. 23 pp. 8vo. Modern boards. Azou founded, together with the abbé Chatel, the Eglise Catholique Française, which was of a socialist tendency. Any publication of this school is rare. The current text deals with the cholera epidemic that ravaged at the time and denounces those who represent God as the source of this epidemic in punishment of the ungrateful human kind. The author argues that God is the God of the living and not the dead, and that reward and punishment await in another life, not in this one. EUR 175
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BARTHES, R. Le degré zero de l'écriture. Paris, Editions du Seuil, 1953. 127 pp. 8vo. Original publisher's printed covers (unopened). (Pierres Vives). En Français dans le texte, 397. First edition. - Pages 121-end with the letters "SP" punched into the outer upper blank corner. With an autograph dedication by Barthes (hommage déférent) to J. Blanzat. Review copy. Scarce. Barthes', (1915-1980) first book in which he, although not yet influenced by linguistic tenets, took a stance against Sartre's views as expressed in Qu'est-ce que la littérature? It is a recapitulation of articles published earlier in Combat. In it he tries to design a history of literature based on the relationships of the author to the total of his writings and the prevailing ideologies of his times. This yields the new central concept of 'écriture'. ' ..... fascinant et ambigu ....' (En Français dans le Texte). EUR 550
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BATAILLE, G. Madame Edwarda. Paris, Jean-Jacques Pauvert, (1966). Title page printed in red and black. 78 pp. 8vo. Original printed publisher's paper covers. Cf. Huisman, p. 255. First published in 1941 and 1945 under the pseudonym of Pierre Angélique in very limited clandestine edition. In 1956 it was reprinted, and only the preface was signed by Bataille, who was at that time a respectable collaborator at the Bibliothèque Nationale. Only in 1966 this edition under Bataille's full name appeared, hence the first edition with the author's name and published after his death. At this point in time Bataille's influence on other French thinkers had grown considerable and his philosophy proved pivotal to them. In the preface Bataille elaborated on the backgrounds of his writing about excessive experiences. EUR 75
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BLANCHARD, P. Catéchisme de la nature, ou religion et morale naturelles, Par Platon Blanchard, citoyen de la Section de la Réunion. A Paris, Chez Maradan, Le Prieur, l'an second (1794). With engraved allegorical frontispiece with the text "Voulez-vous être heureux ? Écoutez la Nature." 222 pp. 16mo. Modern half morocco, spine gilt with raised bands amd gilt lettering, paper covered boards with green corners. Martin & Walter 3512 (incomplete); Tourneux iii, 17262. First edition. The author, Pierre Blanchard (dit Platon) was a bookseller. In this work he deals with various subjects (Idolaterie, Révélation, Polytheisme, Atheisme, Dieu, Scepticisme, etc. etc.) and advances the ideas of the "Etre Supreme" and natural religion. Just as many other similar publications this work's principal aim was to educate the young. EUR 350
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BONNET, C. Recherches philosophiques sur les preuves du Christianisme. Seconde édition, ou l'on trouvera quelques additions, en particuliers sur l'existence de Dieu, & des notes propresà faciliter l'intelligence de l'ouvrage à un plus grand nombre de lecteurs. A Genève, chez Claude Philibert & Barth. Chirol, 1771. xxxix, (1, errata), 512 pp. 8vo. Contemporary half calf, corners, label with gilt lettering (slightly rubbed). Schosler, p. 32; Dictionary of Scientific Biography, ii, p. 286-7; Encyclopedia of Philosophy, i, pp. 345-346. Second edition, revised and updated. Charles Bonnet (1720-1793) is considered one of the fathers of modern biology. He is distinguished for both his experimental research and his philosophy, which exerted a profound influence upon the naturalists of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Bonnet was not only a remarkable experimentalist in his younger years and a theoretician with fertile ideas: he was the instigator of a whole series of fundamental experiments. Mention must also be made of the importance of Bonnet's methodological work. The present work belongs to a group of works on theoretical biology: Bonnet was an enthusiastic champion of preformation, the theory postulating that the animal already existed in miniature in the germ cell. His discovery of parthenogenesis was, to him, proof that the female germ cell contains the preformed individual. EUR 600
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CARNAP, R. Der Raum. Ein Beitrag zur Wissenschaftslehre. Berlin, Reuther & Reichard, 1922. 87, (1) pp. 8vo. Sewn in original publisher's printed paper covers, slightly worn at spine, light discolouring and spotting to covers (Kant-Studien. Ergänzungshefte nr. 56). Ziegenfus, i, 170; Neo-Positivismus bibliographie, p. 264. First edition of Carnap's first publication, his doctoral thesis presented at the University of Jena. Der Raum " ..... analyzed the differences in logical character among the mathematical, physical, and intuitive (or psychological) concepts of space and sought to trace differences of opinion concerning 'space' to the fact that the term had a different meaning for mathematicians, for physicists, and for philosophers. Although the monograph cannot, of course, be regarded as developed formulation of logical positivism, it already contained many of the chief elements of Carnap's philosophical thought-in particular, a tendency to look on philosophical disputes as being largely due to failure to analyze logically the concepts employed, and a commitment to a basic empiricism supplemented by the methods of modern logic and mathematics" (Norman M. Martin, Encyclopedia of Philosophy). EUR 150
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CARNAP, R. & STEGMULLER, W. Induktive Logik und Wahrscheinlichkeit. Wien, Springer Verlag, 1959. With bibliography. viii, 261 pp. 8vo. Orginal publisher's cloth with printed dustwrapper. Haller, Neopositivismus-Bibliographie, p. 266. First edition. This book is a synthetic recapture of Carnap's Logical foundations of probability (1950) by Stegmüller. It was Carnaps attempt to define more precisely the rules of inductive reasoning, intended to be a system equal to deductive logic. Added are later results from research and discussions based on this publication and partly previously unpublished. In appendix B Carnap presents a simplified axiomsystem for inductive logic, which was previously unpublished. The dustwrapper carries the date 1958. Very good copy. EUR 150
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CASSIRER, E. Substanzbegriff und Funktionsbegriff. Untersuchungen über die Grundfragen der Erkenntniskritik. Berlin, Verlag von Bruno Cassirer, 1910. xv, 459 pp. 8vo. Cloth. Encyclopedia of Philosophy, ii, pp. 44-46; Thinkers of the Twentieth Century, pp. 149 ff First edition of Cassirer's first work of original philosophy and reflecting his interests in science. It contrasts concepts constructed on the Aristotelian idea of substance with those constructed on the mathematical idea of function. Cassirer shows that only a logic derived from function explains the type of thinking present in modern science. It also contains the roots of his notion of functional form that was later to be the basis of his conception of the symbol.Cassirer was both an original philosopher and an historian of philosophy: his works in the history of philosophy concentrate on the development of modern philosophy from Nicolas Cusanus to Kant, and German idealism from Kant through Hegel to his own day. His historical research focuses on the problem of knowledge. His original philosophy is often described as Neo-Kantian, partly because of his origins on the Marburg School of Neo-Kantianism and partly because Kant is for Cassirer the pivotal figure in the development of modern philosophy. - Underlinings in pencil. EUR 175
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COMTE, A. Correspondance inédite. Paris, au siège de la Société Positiviste, 1903-1904. 4 volumes. (4), 346 pp.; (4), 403, (1) pp.; (4), 340 pp.; (4) 339, (1) pp. 8vo. Sewn, original printed covers, a bit discoloured along edges, uncut. - All volumes weak in the original covers. Comte came under the influence of the writers with whom throughout the subsequent course of his life he was to retain some degree of intellectual affiliation during his years at the École Polytechnique. He was influenced by Bonald and de Maistre, from whom he borrowed the notion of an order governing the evolution of human society, by Condorcet, from whom he borrowed the idea that this evolution was attended by progress, and between 1818 and 1824 he was associated as secretary, disciple and friend with Saint-Simon, who stimulated his interest in economics. And it was during this period that Comte worked out his general conception of social science, to which he gave the name sociology. His influence can be seen in the French scientific movement of the last half of the nineteenth century, represented by Taine, Renan and Berthelot, and in the writings of such outstanding English figures as John Stuart Mill and Herbert Spencer, in spite of the latter's repudiation of Comte's laws of evolution. Contemporary sociology not only owes to the creator of positivism its existence as an independent science but possesses the seal of his authority upon three fundamental precepts in its methodology: the necessity of treating social facts like physical phenomena, of reducing them in the final analysis to social beliefs and of applying to them the method of experimental investigation (Réne Hubert in IESS). EUR 300
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CONDILLAC, (E. BONNOT DE.) Traité des sensations, à Madame la Comtesse de Vassé. A Londres, et se vend à Paris, chez de Bure l'aîné, 1754. 2 volumes. (2), vi, 345, (1) pp.; (4), 335, (1) pp. 12mo. Contemporary marbled calf, spines gilt with raised bands, gilt lettering, red edges, corners lightly bumped. Belin, Movement Philosophique, i, p. 75; En Français dans le Texte, 158; INED 1165; Tchemerzine-Scheler, ii, p. 479; Garrison and Morton, 4968; Heirs of Hippocrates, 935. First edition of the most comprehensive and best known work of Condillac (1714-80), French follower of Locke and Newton. Condillac's great classic of psychology and his most important work. It had a double purpose: to show how modifications of mind, or impressions received by way of the senses, could give rise automatically, without reference to unobservable spirits or innate ideas, to all our mental operations, and at the same time to defend the existence of an external, material world. The first purpose was familiar, the second required a new approach, the rejection of the assumption that sensations or impressions are images occasioned by external material things (Encyclopedia of Philosophy).'In this work the reader is asked to imagine a statue, a being identical to humans in every respect except two. Its mind, although organized in every way like ours, is a clean slate devoid of ideas; and its body has no feeling. The experiment involves the gradual addition of senses -first smell, then hearing, taste, sight, and finally touch- to trace the development of thought through sensation. Condillac articulated each step of the statue's cognitive development and differentiated between the independent and overlapping contributions of each sense to thought. By arguing that subjectivity can emerge out of a single sense (and, moreover, from the sense of smell, which had always been associated with base animal functions), Condillac made radical earlier empiricism by revealing how each experience provokes transformations within the statue and leads to new modes of thought and new possibilities of interaction with the world. Again, Condillac moved beyond Locke's position: it is not simply ideas that derive from the senses -ideas to be processed by already exisiting mental functions- but mental faculties themselves result from interaction with the world' (Encyclopedia of the Enlightenment, vol. i pp. 284-286).His highly original theory of language as the analyst of experience 'united philosophical empiricism with the account of behavior (later called utilitarian) that explained it by the preference for pleasure over pain' (DSB). EUR 1800
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CONDORCET, (J.M.A.N. DE CARITAT DE.) Esquisse d'un tableau historique des progrès de l'esprit humain; suivi de réflexions sur l'esclavage des nègres. A Paris, Chez Masson & Fils, 1822. viii, 440 pp. 8vo. Contemporary speckled calf, gilt outside dentelles, spine gilt with label and gilt lettering, front cover with gilt stamp 'College de Valenciennes', (corners lightly bumped, joints and spine slightly rubbed, small scratch to front cover). The Réflexions sur l'esclavage des nègres was first published in 1781 under the pseudonym of 'Docteur J. Schwartz' and is quite rare. 'Pour Condorcet, l'esclavage est un crime parce que c'est toujours le plus fort qui dépouile le plus faible. Il combat toutes les raisons invoquées pour le justifier' (Badinter & Badinter, Condorcet. Un intellectuel en politique, pp. 171 ff). 'A belief in the ultimate perfectibility of man lies at the root of all progressive thinking about the human condition. The philosophes and Godwin had familiarized the reading public with this notion; it was left to Condorcet to give it its finest and most durable expression. (....) But it is as the most fully developed exposition of the progress of man that Condorcet's work is now remembered, and it is this which has given it its lasting appeal' (Printing and the Mind of Man).Considered to be Condorcet's most original and most important work. In it he divided history into ten epochs, the first nine dealing with history upto the time in which he himself lived, whereas the tenth is his prophetic view of the future. It is the most original part of the book in which Condorcet forecasts among others the future moral, intellectual and physical improvement of man. '..... it is with the Sketch itself that Condorcet's name and influence have been chiefly associated, and it is with that work -often regarded as the philosophical statement of the eighteenth century- that Condorcet bequeathed to the nineteenth century the fundamental idiom of its social thought, the idea of progress ..... The Sketch not only demonstrated the power of the social art but also made clear that it could succeed only as a communal and democratic art. It is this emphasis upon the collective experience and achievements of mankind, this concern with the 'most obscure and neglected chapter of the history of the human race', namely the progress of the mass of the people in society, that links Condorcet's view of history with the conception of social science' (Encyclopedia of Philosophy). EUR 1000
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CONDORCET, (J.M.A.N. DE CARITAT DE.) Esquisse d'un tableau historique des progrès de l'esprit humain. Ouvrage posthume de Condorcet. Seconde édition. A Paris, Chez Agasse, l'an III (1795). (iv), v-viii, 389, (1) pp. 8vo. 19th-century half calf, marbled boards, gilt lettering to spine, lightly rubbed. Cf.: Printing and the Mind of Man 246; En Français dans le Texte 196; Robinet 382; INED 1184; Martin & Walter, 8083. Identical with the first edition, but re-set. We have not been able to trace a record of this edition in any of the reference works consulted. Considered to be Condorcet's most original and most important work. In it he divided history into ten epochs, the first nine dealing with history upto the time in which he himself lived, whereas the tenth is his prophetic view of the future. It is the most original part of the book in which Condorcet forecasts among others the future moral, intellectual and physical improvement of man. '..... it is with the Sketch itself that Condorcet's name and influence have been chiefly associated, and it is with that work -often regarded as the philosophical statement of the eighteenth century- that Condorcet bequeathed to the nineteenth century the fundamental idiom of its social thought, the idea of progress ..... The Sketch not only demonstrated the power of the social art but also made clear that it could succeed only as a communal and democratic art. It is this emphasis upon the collective experience and achievements of mankind, this concern with the 'most obscure and neglected chapter of the of history of the human race', namely rhe progress of the mass of the people in society, that links Condorcet's view of history with the conception of social science' (Encyclopedia of Philosophy). EUR 1200
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COYER, (G.F.) Bagatelles morales et dissertations, par Monsieur l'Abbé Coyer; avec le Testament littéraire de Mr. l'Abbé Desfontaines. Nouvelle édition, augmentée. A Londres, et se vend à Francfort, Chez Knoch & Eslinger, 1769. Title printed in red and black. (4), 303 (misnumbered 203) pp. Small 8vo. Contemporary speckled calf, spine richly gilt in floral ornaments, red edges. INED 1224 (first edition); Versins 210; Einaudi 1381 (later edition); Higgs 2130; not in Kress; not in Goldsmiths. First published in 1754, this is an augmented edition. Recueil de pièces diverses. Considérations sur le commerce ("nerf de l'État"), le luxe, le célibat, les impôts, la population, l'allaitement maternel, etc. Critiques assez vives de la société, et annonce de bouleversements sociaux, notamment dans l'Année Merveilleuse et dans l'Astrologue du Jour: 'Riches, faites usage du peu de temps qui vous reste à jouir de votre fortune, car elle va bientôt passer en d'autres mains' (INED). The two named pieces in this INED entry are extensively analysed in Lichtenberger's Le Socialisme au XVIIIe siècle, pp. 47-49. Criticizes the French society and predicts social revolutions. EUR 250
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COYER, (G.F.) Bagatelles morales et dissertations, avec le Testament littéraire de l'abbé Desfontanes. Nouvelle édition. A Londres, & se vend à Francfort, Chez Knoch & Eslinger, 1759. Title in red and black. Printer's device on title. (4), 289, (1) pp. 12mo. Contemporary marbled calf, spine gilt with raised bands, gilt double fillet on sides (a trifle worn and rubbed, corners bumped). INED 1224 (first edition); Versins 210; Einaudi 1381 (later edition); Higgs 2130; not in Kress; not in Goldsmiths. First published in 1754, this is an augmented edition. - Title-page and first twenty pages with a faint stain in the lower margin. 'Recueil de pièces diverses. Considérations sur le commerce ("nerf de l'État"), le luxe, le célibat, les impôts, la population, l'allaitement maternel, etc. Critiques assez vives de la société, et annonce de bouleversements sociaux, notamment dans l'Année Merveilleuse et dans l'Astrologue du Jour:'Riches, faites usage du peu de temps qui vous reste à jouir de votre fortune, car elle va bientôt passer en d'autres mains' (INED). The two named pieces in this INED entry are extensively analysed in Lichtenberger's Le Socialisme au XVIIIe siècle, pp. 47-49. Criticizes the French society and predicts social revolutions. EUR 400
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COYER, (G.F.) Bagatelles morales et dissertations, avec le Testament littéraire de l'abbé Desfontanes. Nouvelle édition, augmentée. A Londres, et se vend à Francfort, Chez Knoch & Eslinger, 1763. Title printed within an engraved ornamental border. 288 pp. 12mo. Contemporary marbled calf, spine gilt in compartments, red label with gilt lettering, red edges. INED 1224 (first edition); Versins 210; Einaudi 1381 (later edition); not in Kress; not in Goldsmiths. 'Recueil de pièces diverses. Considérations sur le commerce ("nerf de l'État"), le luxe, le célibat, les impôts, la population, l'allaitement maternel, etc. Critiques assez vives de la société, et annonce de bouleversements sociaux, notamment dans l'Année Merveilleuse et dans l'Astrologue du Jour: 'Riches, faites usage du peu de temps qui vous reste à jouir de votre fortune, car elle va bientôt passer en d'autres mains' (INED). The two named pieces in this INED entry (l'Année Merveilleuse and l'Astrologue du Jou) are extensively analysed in Lichtenberger's Le Socialisme au XVIIIe siècle, pp. 47-49. Criticizes the French society and predicts social revolutions. EUR 450
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DENIS, J. Histoire des théories et des idées morales dans l'Antiquité. Paris, A. Durand, 1856. 2 volumes. viii, 423 pp.; (4), 453 pp. 8vo. Modern half morocco, marbled boards, raised bands with gilt lettering, top edges gilt, original covers preserved, spines and extremities discolored. Cicéron - Etat moral et social du monde Gréco-Romain - Etat religieux du monde Gréco-Romain - Philosophie Gréco-Orientale - Les Sophistes et Socrate - Platon - Aristote - Epicure et Zénon - Du droit chez les Grecs EUR 125
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DESCARTES - MERCIER, L.S. Discours prononcé le 18 floréal (an 4 - 7 mai 1796) sur René Descartes. (Drop-head title). Paris, Imprimerie nationale, prairial, an 4 (1796). 16 pp. 8vo. Modern half morocco. Martin & Walter 23912. Original edition. Demands the revocation of the decree of October 2, 1793, which ordered the transfer of the ashes of Descartes to the Panthéon. EUR 225
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DESTUTT DE TRACY, A.L.C. Élemens d'Idéologie. Première Partie [-Cinquième Partie]. Seconde édition. A Paris, Chez Courcier, An XI = 1803 (-XIII = 1804, 1805, and 1818). With two folding tables in volume two. 5 volumes bound in four. (4), xxvii (misnumbered xxxii), 456 pp.; xiv, 454, (2) pp.; viii, 671, (1) pp.; vi, 527, (1) pp. 8vo. Contemporary green calf, spines richly gilt in compartments, red labels with gilt lettering, gilt ornamental borders on sides, all edges gilt. E. Kennedy, A 'Philosophe' in the Age of Revolution. Destutt de Tracy and the Origins of 'Ideology', pp. 112-166 with an elaborate analysis. The volumes one and four are in the second edition, the other volumes are in the original edition. The first volume has been augmented with valuable notes. A truely beautiful copy of Destutt de Tracy's famous and principal work, published over a period of more than 10 years. Destutt de Tracy, French philosopher and propounder of the doctrine of Ideology. During the French revolution he became so disgusted with the extremists among the revolutionairies that he retired from politics to Auteuil, where he joined the celebrated group of philosopher-scientists which found its center at the home of Mme. Helvétius. Among his intimates were Cabanis and Condorcet, Volney and Garat. Imprisoned for a year under the Terror, he began to study the works of Condillac and John Locke, the result of which was his elaboration of the discipline he called Ideology. The group associated with Destutt de Tracy took the name Idéologues from his doctrine. They became influential in 1795 in two new institutions, The École Normale and the Institut Nationale.'Il eut une influence indéniable sur les économistes, des littérateurs et surtout des philosophes du 19e siècle comme Thomas Browne, Stuart Mill, Spence, Taine et Ribot' (Dictionnaire de Biographie Française, xi, pp. 116-7). He coined the word 'idéologues', long before it acquired its pejorative sense at the hands of Marx, by which Destutt meant the science of ideas. It embraced and intertwinned psychological, moral, economic and social phenomena but which gave primacy to economics because he thought that the purpose of society was to satisfy man's material needs. Tracy rejected the physiocratic notion of value, substituting a labour theory that Ricardo subsequently endorsed in his 'Principles'. He differs on various points with Say and Smith. On numerous topics he was far less thorough and rigorous than either Smith or Say, but his exposition of the capitalization theory of taxation was superior to the rest. Along with Say, Destutt de Tracy was one of the earliest members of the French liberal school. - The first few leaves of volume one with a very small wormtrack in the lower blank margin. An exceptionally nice copy. EUR 3500
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DONATO, N. L'homme d'État, par Nicolo Donato; Ouvrage traduit de l'Italien en François, Avec un grand nombre d'Additions considérables, extraites des Auteurs les plus célebres qui ont écrit sur les matières politiques. A Liege, Chez Clement Plomteux, 1767. 2 volumes in 1. viii, 450 pp.; (4), 258 pp. 4to. Contemporarymarbled calf, spine richly gilt with raised bands, red label with gilt lettering, corners lightly bumped, top of spine slightly damaged. Higgs 4246 and Conlon 67:792 both listing the 3 volumes edition in 12mo; Camus 221; not in Kress; not in Goldsmiths; not in Einaudi. First French edition, originally published in Italian as L'uomo di governo, 1753. Nicolo Donato, elected 93rd doge of Venice in 1618, and auhor of this book which contains a treatise on public finance: a classification under seven headings, and a statement giving details of public expenditure relating more particularly to the Venetian state. The translation was done by J.B.R. Robinet. - Somewhat browned throughout. EUR 900
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ESPINAS, A. La philosophie sociale du XVIIIe siècle et la Révolution. Paris, Alcan, 1898. (4), 412, (2), 31 (catalogue de fonds) pp. 8vo. Contemporary half morocco, marbled boards, spine with raised bands and gilt lettering, slightly discoloured. - With handwritten and signed dedication to Pillon by the author. Pp. 107-412 deal with socialism and the French Revolution, and with Babeuf and Babouvism in particular. 'Traite principalement de Babeuf et le babouvisme (...). C'est le premier exposé systématique de la doctrine babouviste depuis l'apparition de Buonarroti, exposé qu'éclaire l'apport du XIXe s., assimilé, discuté et mis à jour' (Dommanget, Babeuf, p. 20). EUR 150
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ESPINAS, A. La philosophie sociale du XVIIIe siècle et la Révolution. Paris, Alcan, 1898. (4), 412, (2), 31 (catalogue de fonds) pp. 8vo. Sewn in original green printed covers, spine slightly damaged, a nice uncut copy. First edition of this important work. Pp. 107-412 deal with socialism and the French Revolution, and with Babeuf and Babouvism in particular. 'Traite principalement de Babeuf et le babouvisme (...). C'est le premier exposé systématique de la doctrine babouviste depuis l'apparition de Buonarroti, exposé qu'éclaire l'apport du XIXe s., assimilé, discuté et mis à jour' (Dommanget, Babeuf, p. 20). - Stamp on half-title. EUR 125
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FECHNER, G. TH. Die Tagesansicht gegenüber der Nachtansicht. Leipzig, Breitkopf und Härtel, 1879. 274 pp. 8vo. Gilt stamped half cloth with marbled boards., corners, gilt lettering to spine. Ziegenfuss p. 308 ff. First edition. Gustav Theodor Fechner (1801-1878) is considered to be the founder of psychophysics and thus of experimental psychology as a whole. His was the formulation of some basic psychophysical laws. He was also the founder of experimental aesthetics. The theme of dark and light, from various perspectives, occupied Fechner throughout his life and especially after he was cured from a mysterious illness, caused by his experiments of looking into the sunlight, that made him blind temporarily. He advocated an ideal worldview called 'Tagesansicht' which was the opposite of the 'Nachtansicht': the source of all false interpretations of the world. 'He was one of the most versatile thinkers of the nineteenth century, laboring to reconcile an idealistic view of reality with the methodology of modern science ....' (Edwards, The Encyclopedia of Philosophy, p. 186 ff.) EUR 375
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FERGUSON, A. An Essay on the History of Civil Society. Edinburgh, printed for A. Millar & T. Caddel in the Strand, London, and A. Kincaid & J. Bell, 1767.viii, 430 pp., complete with the final blank. 4to. Original speckled calf, expertly repaired, spine (renewed) gilt with raised bands with the original title label preserved, paste-downs and endpapers new, gilt fillet on sides, red sprinkled edges. Kress 6432; Goldsmiths 10264; Higgs 3973; Mattioli 1254; not in Chuo. First edition of a sociological classic and the principal work of Adam Ferguson, professor of Moral Philosophy at the University of Edinburgh and a leader of the Scottish Enlightenment. 'Ferguson is today remembered for his Essay..... rather than for his contributions to moral philosophy or Roman history: he was what we would now call an intellectual historian, tracing the gradual rise of the human mind from barbarism to political and social refinement .... Debates between Reid, Dugald Stewart, Hume, Adam Smith, Lord Kames and Ferguson himself reveal Scottish philosophy, in general, to be important sociologically. Ferguson's thought was part of a general eighteenth century movement, stimulated by the French, built upon English empirical traditions, and hostile to Cartesian speculation. Ferguson is sometimes considered the father of modern systematic sociology, and although he himself was soon forgotten amidst the antiempirical reactions of Heglian disciples, the influence of the philosophical group to which he belonged was attested to by such nineteenth-century political thinkers as Comte, Mill and Marx. His discussions of politics, economics, history, easthetics, literature and ethnology were a synthesis of the thought of his time' (Encyclopedia of Philosophy). - Copy discarded from the library of the Freie Universität Berlin with their stamp (and a stamp reading 'Gestrichen') on verso of title, a very small and light dampstain in the inner margin of the preliminaries. A very good copy with wide margins of an important and scarce book. EUR 10000
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FERGUSON, A. An Essay on the History of Civil Society. Edinburgh, printed for A. Millar & T. Caddel in the Strand, London, and A. Kincaid & J. Bell, 1767.viii, 430 pp., complete with the final blank. 4to. Contemporary polished calf, gilt double fillet on sides, spine gilt with raised bands and red label with gilt lettering, rubbed and lightly worn at edges of boards, joints and spine-ends expertly strengthened, spine lightly and occasionally shaved. Kress 6432; Goldsmiths 10264; Higgs 3973; not in Chuo. First edition of a sociological classic and the principal work of Adam Ferguson, professor of Moral Philosophy at the University of Edinburgh and a leader of the Scottish Enlightenment. - Upper blank portion of the title-page neatly cut away, page one slightly dust soiled, else fine with broad margins. 'Ferguson is today remembered for his Essay..... rather than for his contributions to moral philosophy or Roman history: he was what we would now call an intellectual historian, tracing the gradual rise of the human mind from barbarism to political and social refinement .... Debates between Reid, Dugald Stewart, Hume, Adam Smith, Lord Kames and Ferguson himself reveal Scottish philosophy, in general, to be important sociologically. Ferguson's thought was part of a general eighteenth century movement, stimulated by the French, built upon English empirical traditions, and hostile to Cartesian speculation. Ferguson is sometimes considered the father of modern systematic sociology, and although he himself was soon forgotten amidst the antiempirical reactions of Heglian disciples, the influence of the philosophical group to which he belonged was attested to by such nineteenth-century political thinkers as Comte, Mill and Marx. His discussions of politics, economics, history, easthetics, literature and ethnology were a synthesis of the thought of his time. (Encyclopedia of Philosophy.) EUR 9000
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FICHTE - BERGER, S. Ueber eine unveröffentliche Wissenschaftslehre J.G. Fichtes. Marburg a. L., Robert Noste, 1918. 100 pp. 8vo. Sewn, original printed covers, spine a bit damaged. Inaugural dissertation University of Marburg. EUR 75
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FICHTE, I.H. Beiträge zur Charakteristik der neueren Philosophie, zu Vermittlung ihrer Gegensätze. Sulzbach, in der J.E. v. Seidel'schen Buchhandlung, 1829. xxx, (2), 416 pp. Small 8vo. Contemporaryboards (slightly worn). Ziegenfuss, i, pp. 322-329. First edition. - Some browning and occasional marginal dampstaining. Immanuel Hermann Fichte, son of Johann Gottlieb (1796-1879), established himself in Saarbruecken and shortly after in Duesseldorf where Immermann, Grabbe, Mendelssohn, the painter Schadow and Lessing belonged to his friends. His main target was the philosophy of Hegel against which Fichte saw the relation between the individual and the eternal as the main philosophical problem. With this book Fichte established himself as the leader of a new philosophical movement, together with Christian Hermann Weisse, who's Ueber den Gegenwartigen Standpunkt der philosophischen Wissenschaft appeared in the same year. EUR 375
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FICHTE, J.G. Reden an die deutsche Nation. Neue wohlfeilere Auflage. Leipzig, F.L. Herbig, 1824. iv, 380 pp. 8vo. Contemporary boards, paper label to spine, a bit rubbed and worn. Meyer 204; Ziegenfuss, i, p. 342. This is the second corrected edition of this important text, which had great influence on the development of German nationalism. Johann Gottlieb Fichte (1762-1814), German philosopher and exponent of ethical idealism. He taught at Jena from 1794 to 1799 and was dismissed on charges of atheism. He took up residence in Berlin; there he helped to found the University of Berlin. The originality of Fichte's ethical system consisted in the synthesis it established between the autonomous ethics originating in Kant and the French Revolution, and social and anti-individualistic ethics. Of the three thinkers who had the greatest influence upon his mental development (namely Lessing, Spinoza and Kant), the third proved decisive, especially Kant's moral philosophy. EUR 300
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GEE, J. Considérations sur le commerce et la navigation de la Grande-Bretagne. Ouvrage traduit de l'anglois, de M. Joshua Gee, sur la quatrième édition. A Londres, chez A. Bettesworth & C. Hitch, S. Birt, 1749. - (Bound with:) (MONTESQUIEU, Ch.L. DE SECONDAT DE.) Défense de l'Esprit des loix, à laquelle on a joint quelques éclaircissements. A Genève, chez Barrilot & fils, 1750. 2 works in 1 volume. xxviii, 268 pp.; 207, (1) pp. 12mo. Contemporary marbled calf, spine gilt with raised bands, red title-label with gilt lettering. First work: Goldsmiths 8382; Sabin 26828; Alden & Landis 749/110; Echeverria & Wilkie 749/5; Carpenter, Economic Bestsellers, XII (5); not in Kress; not in Einaudi. First edition in French. Translated by J.B. de Secondat, son of Montesquieu. Reviews England's commercial situation, indicating trade carried on with many regions, and includes suggestions for improvement. A large part relates to the trade of the plantations in America and contains discussions of British trade with Carolina, Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey, and New England. The first English edition appeared in 1729.Second work: Tchemerzine-Scheler, iv, p. 931; Le Petit p. 498; Cabeen 93 (a 80 page work bound with the 1749 edition of the Esprit des Loix; Cabeen does not list the present original edition!); Conlon 50:793; INED 3552.First edition.The work ends on page 196 and is followed by Éclaircissements sur l'Esprit des Loix (unnumbered leaf forming the pages 197-198, text covering the pages 199-207). The Esprit des Loix was severely attacked and the present work is a dignified 'Défense'. Montesquieu died not long after it was published while on a visit to Paris. Despite the success of the Esprit des Loix and the present work, the quarrel over Montesquieu's main work continued with Jansenists, Jesuits and others attacking the author. The Esprit des Loix was eventually placed on the Index (29 November 1751) and condamned by the Sorbonne. EUR 1250
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GENLIS, (S. COMTESSE DE.) Les Diners du Baron d'Holbach, dans lesquels se trouvent rassemblées, sous leurs noms, une partie des gens de la cour et des littérateurs les plus remarquables du 18e siècle;par Mme la Comtesse de Genlis. A Paris, Chez C.J. Trouvé, 1822. xx, 532 pp. 8vo. Contemporary half calf, marbled boards, spine gilt with raised bands and gilt lettering, marbled edges. Cabeen 1342; Cioranescu 30691. First edition. - Some light, scattered and unobtrusive foxing. A sarcastic and controversial description of the intolerance, fanaticism and eccentricities of the 18th-century philosophers. With the exception of Helvétius and Diderot, Mme de Genlis knew all the philosophers. Among those described here are Holbach, Grimm, d'Alembert, Helvétius, Diderot, l'abbé Galiani, l'abbé Morellet, Mme Geoffrin, Mme du Deffand, etc.For Madame de Genlis the philosophes are a band of conspirators formed to destroy the institutions of France, and Voltaire is head of the cabal, who supplied money and meeting place. Interesting as one of the earliest post-revolutionary reactions against the so-called sins of the philosophes. EUR 1100
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HELVETIUS, (C.A.) Oeuvres complètes de M. Helvétius. Londres, 1777. With engraved portait of Helvetius bound before the title-page. 4 volumes. (4), iii,(1, blank), 484 pp.; (2), xx, 513, (2, approbation, privilège du Roi) pp.; xxv, iii, 586 pp.; xiv, 616 pp. 8vo. Contemporary tree calf, spines richly gilt with raised bands, labels with gilt lettering. Smith, Bibliography of the Writings of Helvétius, O3; Keim p. 715; Tchemerzine-Scheler, iii, p. 684; Thomas, Checklist, p. 73. 'Publication of this edition, the only Oeuvres to include the 'Système de la Nature', can be attributed to Jean Edme Dufour, who had earlier worked for Bassompierres, and Philippe Roux of Maastricht, whose association with Dufour lasted from 1775 to 1787' (D. Smith, p. 25). EUR 900
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HERBART, (J.F.) Zur Lehre von der Freyheit des menschlichen Willens. Briefe an den Herrn Professor Griepenkerl von Herbart. Göttingen, In der Dieterichschen Buchhandlung, 1836. xxiv, 255, (1) pp. 8vo. Contemporary marbled boards, handwritten paper label on spine (corners lightly bumped). Ziegenfuß, i, p. 514. Scarce first edition. Johann Friedrich Herbart (1776-1841), German philosopher, psychologist, and educational theorist. He entered the University of Jena in 1794. Although he studied under J.G. Fichte, Herbart was unable to accept Fichte's view of the ego and its psychology, and in reaction he laid the basis for his own metaphysical and psychological views. Herbart's ideas were in fact the bases of the chief German pedagogical school of the late nineteenth century and exerted considerable influence in the United States through pedagogues trained at Jena. The Herbartians (for example, Stoy and Rein) had their last center in the Jena pedagogical seminary until the postrevolutionary school reforms terminated their declining influence. - Old ownership entry on front pastedown: A.G. Bruschius, Frankfurt a/M 1836. A very good copy. EUR 425
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HERBART, J.F. Allgemeine Practische Philosophie. Göttingen, Justus Friedrich Danckwerts, 1808. iv, 430, (2 Druckfehler) pp. 8vo. Contemporary boards(slightly worn). Encyclopedia of Philosophy, iii, p. 481; Ziegenfuss, i, p. 509. First edition One of the major fruits of the period Herbart spend in Göttingen after his doctorate (1802-1808). With this work he presented himself as ordinarius at the University of Köningsberg where he succeeded Kant. Philosophy, according to Herbart, cannot be characterized by its subject matter but only by its method, which is the reworking of concepts; and the possible kinds of such elaboration determine the major divisions of philosophy. In this book he elaborates on concepts as 'Innere Freiheit' and 'Billigkeit' a.o. that form the ethical basis of his pedagogical and psychological insights for which he gains importance among twentieth century researchers. (Part I: Ideenlehre; Part II: Die Ideen und der Mensch.) EUR 400
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KANT - FOUILLEE, A. Le moralisme de Kant et l'amoralisme contemporain. Deuxième édition. Paris, Felix Alcan, 1921. xxiii, (1), 375 pp. 8vo. Modern half hard-grained morocco, marbled boards, spine with raised bands, gilt lettering,a bit rubbed, original covers preserved (Bibliothèque de Philosophie Contemporain). Huisman, Dictionnaire des Philosophes, i, p. 1026; Encyclopedia of Philosophy, iii, p. 214-215. Second edition. Alfred Fouillée, French philosopher and sociologist, was a prolific writer, especially on political, social and historical subjects.Through most of his varied output there ran a common thread. This was a concern to reconcile the values of traditionally metaphysical or spiritualistic philosophy -above all, liberty and free will- with the deterministic and antimetaphysical findings of contemporary work in the natural sciences, a concern, that is, to reconcile philosophical idealism with scientific naturalism. This lead to his theory of the idée-force or 'thought force', or ideas as forces. EUR 100
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KNAPP, G.F. Die neuern Ansichten über Moralstatistik. Vortrag. Jena, Friedrich Mauke 1871. 19, (1) pp. 8vo. Sewn, original printed covers, edges frayed, (Sonderdruck aus B. Hildebrand's Jahrbüchern für Nationalökonomie und Statistik Bd. XVI Heft 4 und 5). First edition of a lecture given on 29 April 1871 at the University of Leipzig. Knapp (1842-1926) studied in Munich, Berlin and Göttingen, and in 1867 became head of the statistical office of the municipality of Leipzig, in 1869 extraordinary professor of economics in Leipzig and in 1874 professor in Strasbourg. He was one of the leading German Kathedersozialisten (socialist professors), and co-founder of the Verein für Sozialpolitik.At the beginning of his career he carried out some important work in statistics: he was the first to develop a systematic theory of mortality measurement in his Über die Ermittlung der Sterblichkeit ... (1868). 'Opposing the viewpoints of Quételet and his followers, who claimed that man's behaviour is governed by statistical "laws," he viewed statistics simply as a tool in the realistic study of the manifold social phenomena and fully realized the limitations of statistical observations' (ESS). EUR 250
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LA METTRIE, (J.O.) DE. Oeuvres philosophiques. Nouvelle édition, corrigée et augmentée. A Berlin, 1775. 3 volumes. iv, 296 pp.; (4), 270, (1) pp.; 150 pp. 8vo. 19th-century half calf, marbled boards, spines gilt in compartments, gilt lettering, marbled edges, spines a bit discoloured, a bit scuffed. Stoddard 70; Quépat 191; cf.: Drujon, p. 289. Julien Offray de Lamettrie (1709-1751), French physician and philosopher. He was one of the first to develop a materialistic doctrine. His outlook, however, was more vitalistic than mechanistic, since it attributed to matter the capacity of sensation and feeling-indeed all the powers that were hitherto attributed to the soul. La Mettrie's works were severely prosecuted in France and the author took refuge in Holland, where he also raised opposition. In 1784 he had to leave for Berlin, where he continued to work with the protection of Frederic the Great. 'Long neglected after his death, La Mettrie has been recognized since the latter part of the nineteenth century as one of the major forerunners of modern materialism. His nonreductive form of materialism may be regarded as an early version of a theory that is widely advocated at the present time by, among others, Ernest Nagel and various American naturalists; and his view that human beings can be fruitfully considered as a certain type of machine has obvious similarities to the principles underlying the science of cybernetics' (Encyclopedia of Philosophy, iv, pp. 381-382). 'La Mettrie's whole concern with pathology indicates a liberal and reformist attitude in that age of generally illiberal and disordered institutions' (R.J. White, The Anti-Philosophers. A Study of the Philosophes in Eighteenth-century France.) EUR 625
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LECLERC, I.B.T. De l'intelligence de l'homme, et des différens esprits. Paris, Chez Deschamps, 1823. 35, (1 blank) pp. 8vo. Sewn, disbound. First edition. De l'Intelligence de l'Homme - Où je place le siège de l'ame - Comment l'ame communique la vie au cerveau - Des facultés de l'intelligence - Des sensations - Des causes des différens esprits, etc. etc. EUR 200
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LECOUTURIER, H. La cosmosophie ou le socialisme universel. Paris, Chez l'auteur, 1850. (4), 350 pp. 8vo. Contemporary half calf, marbled boards, spine gilt incompartments, gilt lettering. Stammhammer, i, p. 130; Goldsmiths 37216; not in Einaudi; Caillet 6365. Only edition of this curious and strongly anti-religious work. The author defends socialism as necessary for social order. The work contains the famous phrase 'A chacun selon ses besoins' while the author deals with the question of balance between 'produire et jouir.' - Slightly spotted throughout. EUR 225
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LEROUX, P. Réfutation de l'eclectisme où se trouve exposée la vraie définition de la philosophie, et où l'on explique le sens, la suite et l'enchaînement des divers philosophes depuis Descartes. Nouvelle édition. Paris, Charles Gosselin, 1841. xviii, (2), 351 pp. 8vo. Modern half calf with raised bands, marbledboards, gilt lettering, uncut. Evans, Le socialisme romantique, p. 245; DBMOF, ii, pp. 501-503. Second edition. - Very slightly browned in the margins. The name 'eclectic' was most appropriately given to the school of which the most distinguished members were Victor Cousin and Théodore Jouffroy. They had already been vehemently attacked in the Revue Indépendente, which journal was being used to attack the German official philosophy as well as the official French philosophical School, headed by Cousin. Leroux argued for a replacement of the christian religions by his 'déisme national'. See at length: Maitron and Evans.Pierre Leroux (1797-1871), utopian socialist. Pierre Leroux was one of the most influential, prolific, and in some ways the most unusual of the utopian socialists who populated the literary and political worlds of the late Restoration and the July Monarchy. He combined several talents and vocations: philosopher, poet, inventor, journalist, and political activist. Leroux's influence extended from republican secret societies to the salons of literati habituated by such as Victor Hugo and George Sand. He put his stamp on the peculiarly French romantic socialism of the era. In 1824 Leroux founded his own newspaper, the Globe, in which he promoted the liberal ideas fashionable among opponents of the Restoration monarchy. During this period Leroux came under the influence of Saint-Simon and his ideas.Leroux founded an experimental community in Broussac (Creuze) of eighty persons which drew the attention of a cluster of wandering romantic writers and musicians from France and Germany: even Franz Liszt took an interest. Leroux was politically very active: he took a seat in the Assembly in 1848 as a deputy from Paris, he sat in the Legislative Assembly in 1849 and identified himself with the Left, or the Mountain, but refused to associate himself with the Mountain's call for insurrection in June 1849. He joined Cabet and Louis Blanc on the island of Jersey where they set up a community similar to the one in Boussac. Leroux died in 1871 during the Commune, the great civil war that he devoted his life to preventing (see Sanford Elwitt in: Historical Dictionary of France from the 1815 Restoration to the Second Empire, vol. i, pp. 623 ff). EUR 425
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MABLY - (BARTHELEMI, L.) Le destin de la France, par l'abbé de Mably; suivi de la vie de cet auteur, par M. l'abbé Barthélemi. No place, 1790. 252 pp. Small 8vo. Modern half morocco, spine gilt in compartments, gilt lettering.Tchémerzine-Scheler, iv, p. 258; Dictionnaire de Biographie Française, vol v, pp. 672-3; Michaud, iii, pp. 181-2). First edition. For a long time attributed to Gabriel Mably, the work was actually written by Louis Barthélemy who added a bio-bibliography which was mainly fictional. Tchémerzine-Scheler has a copy without the fictional bio-bibliography, also dated 1790, and with a different collation. EUR 225
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MAINE DE BIRAN, (F.P.G.) Oeuvres inédites, publiées par Ernest Naville, avec la collaboration de Marc Debrit. Paris, Dezobry, E. Magdeleine et Cie., 1859. 3 volumes. ccxv, 310 pp.; 479, (1) pp.; 594 pp. 8vo. Half morocco, marbled boards, spine with raised bands and gilt lettering. First edition. The publication of these volumes, from Mss placed at disposal by Maine de Biran's son, made it possible for the first time to present a coherent and connected view of the author's philosophical development. Maine de Biran was born Marie François Pierre Gonthier de Biran, receiving the name 'Maine' from the name of his family's property (le Maine). He became acquainted with the Idéologues Cabanis and Destutt de Tracy by winning first price in an essay contest sponsored by the Institute of France with the essay L'influence de l'habitude sur la faculté de penser. While continuing to write outstanding philosophical and psychological essays, he intensified his political activities, became a member of the Chamber of Deputies, and was made commander in the Legion of Honor.'Maine de Biran is the philosopher of the Empire who has best endured the test of time. His works were hailed by the National Institute, the Academy of Berlin, and the Academy of Copenhagen. He has been called "the reformer of Empiricism" because he was fully imbued with the sensationalism of the idéologues yet went beyond them by insisting on a distinction between active and passive faculties' (Emmet Kennedy in Historical Dictionary of Napoleonic France, 1799-1815, p. 319). - Bookplate of Bibliothèque J.C. Régis Thomas on front paste-down, a very fine copy of a rare book. EUR 900
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MALINOWSKI, B. Freedom and civilization. London, Allen & Unwin, 1947. xiv, 338 pp. 8vo. Original publisher's cloth, slightly rubbed. Thinkers of the Twentieth Century p. 488; IESS, ix, p. 548. First English edition (the American edition appeared in 1944). Though for a period after WW II anthropologists reacted strongly against the dominance of Malinowksi, he recently regained his rightful position as one of the giants among the founding fathers of the modern discipline. As a scientist he came to new views on the theoretical representation of culture, from which he did not exclude his own. Edited by Malinowski's wife, this book is his final expression of his basic beliefs and conclusions regarding war, totalitarianism and the future of humanity. The book was left unfinished in 1942 because of Malinowski's death (see: Thinkers of the Twentieth Century). - Scribbling on first blank flyleaf. EUR 100
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MAUSS, M. Sociologie et anthropologie. Précédé d'une introduction à l'oeuvre de Marcel Mauss par Cl. Lévi Strauss. Paris, P.U.F., 1950. lii, 392 pp. 8vo. Modern cloth, label with gilt lettering, original publisher's printed covers preserved (Bibliothèque de sociologie contemporaine. Collection dirigée par Georges Gurvitch). Dosse, p. 47v. First edition. - With ex-libris of Francisco de Paula Leite Pinto pasted on front paste-down, and Leite Pinto in gilt at foot of spine. The text of Lévi-Strauss: Introduction à l'oeuvre de Marcel Mauss is no simple presentation of the work of one of the grand, durkheimian, masters of French anthropology. In it Levy Strauss defines for the first time his own structuralistic program, a truly rigorous methodology. As such it is the first unified program proposed for the human sciences since Destut de Tracy in the beginning of the XIXth century. It motivated among others A. Greimas in his project for the construction of a global method for the humanities, seeing in structrualism the meeting point of linguistics and anthropology. It necessitated the director of the series G. Gurvitch also to add a post-scriptum to the avant propos, stating that the introduction though impresssive, is also Lévi-Strauss' 'interprétation très personelle'. For Lévi-Strauss, M. Mauss is the spiritual father of structuralism. The texts of Mauss form a collection of important articles (among which the famous Essai sur le Don of 1923/24), previously published in L'année sociologique (1902/23), Le Journal de Psychologie Normale et Pathologique (1924/26), The Journal of the Royal Anthropological institute (1938) and the Journal de Psychologie (1934). EUR 150
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MONTESQUIEU, (CH. L. DE SECONDAT DE.) Oeuvres de Montesquieu avec éloges, analyses, commentaires, remarques, notes, réfutations, imitations; par MM. Destutt de Tracy, Villemain, membres de l'Institut; d'Alembert,Helvétius, Voltaire, Condorcet et Bertolini. A Paris, Chez Dalibon, 1827. 8 volumes. (1), 411 pp.; (4), 483 pp.; (4), 495 pp.; (4), 488 pp.; (4), 475, (1) pp.; (4), 544 pp.; (4), 460 pp.; (4), 464 pp. 8vo. Contemporary half calf, spines gilt with raised bands, marbled sides, spines somewhat discoloured, spine of volume 3 lightly rubbed. Not in Cabeen, Montesquieu, A bibliography. Very good copy of the 'de luxe' edition of the oeuvres of Montesquieu, with the important volume containing Destutt's commentary on l'Esprit des Lois, still one of the best criticisms ever written. Volume 1: Grandeur des Romains; volumes 2-5 Esprit des Loix; volume 6: Oeuvres diverses; volume 7: Lettres persanes; volume 8: Destutt de Tracy's Commentaire. - Copy with wide margins and printed on heavy paper, some minor imperfections to the binding of some volumes, an uncut and clean copy. EUR 1250
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MOREL, H. Lettres à Madame de B***, sur le matérialisme; dans lesquelles, 1. On donne une Notice historique de cette opinion chez les Français; 2. On fait voir combien elle est funesteà la législation et aux moeurs d'un peuple; Au bonheur du philosophe qui la professe; 4. A la littérature en général, et au talent de l'écrivain en particulier; 5. Que le retour de Louis XVIII doit faire espérer celui des bonnes doctrines; 6. Qu'une instruction publique bien entendue, et quelques mesures répressives peuvent seules servir de frein à l'impiété. Par Hyacinthe Morel, ..... Précédées d'une épitre à un jeune matérialiste, par le même auteur. A Paris, Chez Le Normand, A Avignon, Chez Pierre Chaillot jeune, 1818. 96 pp. 12mo. Sewn, disbound.Quérard, La France Littéraire, 301. Originally published as Epitre à un jeune matérialiste, in 1785, this is a new and expanded edition. The author was professor of rhetoric in Aix and Avignon and esteemed author of prose and poetry. EUR 250
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NIETZSCHE, F. Gesammelte Werke. München, Musarion, 1920-1929. With portraits and facsimiles. 23 volumes. Royal 8vo. Original vellum, gilt double fillets on sides, title labels with gilt lettering, top edges gilt. The most complete Nietzsche edition preceding that of Colli-Montinari (still in progress), printed in 1600 copies only. It features a chronological arrangement of Nietzsche's works and notes with indexes. Some light and unobtrusive spotting to the bindings, with a bookplate on the front pastedown of all volumes which has been accurately and neatly blackened, a very good copy. EUR 3500
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NOODT, (G.) Du Pouvoir des Souverains, et de la Liberté de Conscience, en deux discours, traduits du Latin de Mr. Noodt, professeur en droit dans l'université de Leide par Jean Barbeyrac. A Amsterdam, Chez Thomas Lombrail, 1707. With engraved frontispiece. xx, 186, (6 publisher's catalogue) pp. 12mo. Contemporary calf, spine gilt with raised bands, somewhat rubbed, spine ends damaged, edges worn. Not in Camus; Ashmann & Feenstra nr. 438; cf. Dekkers, p. 124, 9. First French edition. Noodt was professor of Law succesively in Nijmegen, Franeker, Utrecht and Leiden. As a writer on jurisprudence he acquired a wide, international reputation. Two of his political treatises were translated into French by Jean Barbeyrac. Influenced by Grotius, about whom he lectured extensively, he advocated the importance of natural law. He was also involved with the negotiations that led to the peace of Nijmegen in 1678. Compared to his contemporaries, Noodt didn't publish much, but it was of high quality. His Latin style was modelled after the best writers, and his works soon rose to the rank of standard authority, so that scholars talked of the 'methodus Noodti'.The work had appeared in Latin in Leiden 1699 as the text of his speech when he resigned as principal of Leiden University: Dissertatio de jure summi imperii et lege regia. The first 20 pages contain a preface by Barbeyrac. - Lacks 1 leaf (p. xxi-xxii, divisional title). Rare. EUR 375
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PROUDHON, P.J. De la justice dans la révolution et dans l'église. Nouvelle édition, revue, corrigée et augmentée. Bruxelles, A. Schnée, 1860. 12 parts in 3 volumes. (4), lxxx, (2), 112 pp.; (4), 164 pp.; (4), 184 pp.; (4), 194 pp.; (4), 170 pp.; (4), 172 pp.; (4), 196 pp.; (4), 186 pp.; (4), 198 pp.; (4), 196 pp.; (4), 190 pp.; (4), 188 pp. 8vo. Contemporary half calf, spines richly gilt. Nettlau, p. 19. Second enlarged edition, published in Bruxelles during Proudhon's exil. This edition is quite scarce and much more difficult to find than the first edition of 1858. It was published in 12 parts in the journal 'Les nouvelles de la révolution'. From part 2 onwards the place of publication is listed as 'Bruxelles et Leipzig'. The work was confiscated immediately upon its publication. 'Proudhon's most massive and his greatest book. In it the two most important ideas of his thinking come to an end. He develops to the full his concept of God as the secret enemy of mankind. God is the source of all authority. Secondly, he develops to the full his conception of 'immanent justice'. Proudhon was severely prosecuted for this work which was slaughtered in the press of the time and condemned on moral grounds' (See at length: Hyams, Proudhon, his Revolutionary Life, Mind & Works). - At head of titles: Essais d'une philosophie populaire no 1(-12). EUR 800
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PROUDHON, P.J. De la justice dans la révolution et dans l'église. Nouveaux principes de philosophie pratique, adressés à Son Éminence Monseigneur Mathieu, cardinal-archevêque de Besançon. Paris, Garnier frères, 1858. 3 volumes. (4), 520 pp.; (4), 544 pp.; (4), 612 pp. 8vo. Contemporary half morocco. Nettlau, p. 19; Stammhammer, i, p. 190, nr 36; cf.: Einaudi 4554 (edition published in 1860). First edition. Confiscated immediately upon its publication. Proudhon's most massive and his greatest book. In it the two most important ideas of his thinking come to an end. He develops to the full his concept of God as the secret enemy of mankind. God is the source of all authority. Secondly, he develops to the full his conception of 'immanent justice'. Proudhon was severely prosecuted for this work which was slaughtered in the press of the time, and condemned on moral grounds. (See at length: Hyams, Proudhon, his Revolutionary Life, Mind & Works). EUR 450
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PROUDHON, P.J. Système des contradictions économiques, ou philosophie de la misère. Deuxième édition. Paris, Garnier frères, 1850. 2 volumes. (4), 399, (1) pp.; (4), 399, (1) pp. 8vo. Sewn, original printed covers, top of spine volume 2 slightly damaged, uncut. Nettlau, p. 18, Kress C.6940; Goldsmiths 34909; not in Einaudi. Second edition. In this work, 'Proudhon is really seeking a kind of equilibrium in which economic contradictions will not be eliminated -for they cannot be- but brought into dynamic equation. This dynamic equation he finds in multualism ..... Marx chose this occasion for a complete reversal of his past attitude to Proudhon by publishing The Poverty of Philosophy; this was a pretended critique of Proudhon's book which degenerated into a tissue of abusive misrepresentations showing a complete failure to understand the originality and plasticity of thought underlying the apparent disorder of Proudhon's arguments. The dialogue between the two authors showed not merely a complete divergence of theoretical outlook, but also -and perhaps this was more important- an irreconcilable opposition of personalities' (Woodcock, Anarchism). EUR 450
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PROUDHON, P.J. De la justice dans la révolution et dans l'église. Nouveaux principes de philosophie pratique, adressés à Son Éminence Monseigneur Mathieu, cardinal-archevêque de Besançon. Paris, Garnier frères, 1858. 3 volumes. (4), 520 pp.; (4), 544 pp.; (4), 612 pp. 8vo. Contemporary half morocco, raised bands, gilt lettering, marbled boards. Nettlau, p. 19; Stammhammer, i, p. 190, nr 36; cf.: Einaudi 4554 (edition published in 1860). First edition. Confiscated immediately upon its publication. Proudhon's most massive and his greatest book. In it the two most important ideas of his thinking come to an end. He develops to the full his concept of God as the secret enemy of mankind. God is the source of all authority. Secondly, he develops to the full his conception of 'immanent justice'. Proudhon was severely prosecuted for this work which was slaughtered in the press of the time, and condemned on moral grounds (See at length: Hyams, Proudhon, his Revolutionary Life, Mind & Works). EUR 400
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PROUDHON, P.J. De la création de l'ordre dans l'humanité ou Principes d'organisation politique. Paris, Librairie de Prévot, Besançon, Bintot, successeur de Proudhon, 1843. (4), 582 pp. Small 8vo.Contemporary half hard-grained morocco, spine gilt with raised bands and gilt lettering. Hoffman, p. 363; Nettlau, p. 17; not in Kress; not in Goldsmiths; Einaudi 4553. First edition. In this work, Proudhon sets forth that the discovery of the scientific laws of jurisprudence and politics which, by making the self-management of society's business a routine application of known rules, would be immutable because natural, and render the formal state redundant. Proudhon was so convinced that he was on the right lines leading to discovery that he could scarcely believe that responsible men would fail to recognize it (Hyams, Proudhon, his Revolutionary Life, Mind & Works). EUR 500
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RAFFRON-(DUTROUILLET, N.) Dissertation sur la division décimale des nombres. 5 Floréal an second (24 avril 1794). (Drop-head title). (Paris), Impr. nationale, (1794). With folding table. 10 pp. 8vo. Modern half morocco. Martin & Walter 28614 (without the table). EUR 100
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RIDE, A. Esclavage et liberté. Existence de l'homme et des sociétés en harmonie avec les lois universelles. Etat de nature: Liberté, opposition, combat. Inégalité, destruction ou esclavage. La société se forme par le despotisme, intelligence, ordre. L'esclavage, travail, bien-être. Les sociétés tombent ou décadence par l'abus du despotisme et par la souveraineté du peuple, ignorance, désordre; la liberté, opposition, combat; l'égalité, opposition aux lois universelles. La perfection est dans l'aristocratie; intelligence, grandeur des peuples; le patronage: protection, bien-être; la famille: union d'intérêts, developpement. Paris, H.L. Delloye, 1843. 2 volumes. 494 pp.; 476 pp. 8vo. Modern half morocco, spine gilt in compartments, top edge gilt, original covers preserved. Bourquelot, vi, 185; Sabin 71273. First edition, extremely rare of this defense of slavery. Astonishing work in which the author tries to prove that inequality is not only the natural state of man, but also a desirable state which is in accordance with natural law and that attempts to change this situation would lead to anarchy, decadence, and the collapse of society. In its initial state a despot should reign after which he should slowly pass on his power to an aristocracy. The work contains among others extensive criticism of Fourier and Considérant, although the author is not totally opposed to the ideas of Fourier. This seems to be an extraordinary rare work as well, only listed by Bourquelot without any further information. The book also deals with the major thinkers of the past century (Voltaire, Rousseau, Volnay) and contemporary economists (Malthus, Ricardo) and other thinkers (Comte, Lamenais) etc.The author owned a property in the Antilles and gives interesting reflections on slavery in the Americas (with a good deal on Louisiana) and has a comparison with the miserable conditions of the English working classes. EUR 4250
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RIEHL, A. Der philosophische Kriticismus und seine Bedeutung für die positive Wissenschaft. Leipzig, Verlag von Wilhelm Engelmann, 1876-1887. 3 parts in 2 volumes. xii, 447, (1) pp.; vii, (1,errata), 292 pp.; xi, (1), 358 pp. 8vo. Original half cloth, marbled boards, corners, gilt lettering on spine, a bit rubbed, red edges. Ziegenfuß, ii. 354. First edition. Alois Riehl (1844-1924), Austrian Neo-Kantian philosopher. Riehle's first philosophy was a realistic metaphysics based on Herbart and indirectly on Leibniz, and it is of interest, just as in the case of Kant, to study the relation between Riehl's precritical and critical writings. A profound study of Kant freed Riehl from his metaphysical dogmatism. The first volume of his Der philosophische Kritizismus marked an important date in the history of the new Kantianism. The work highlighted the hold on Kant of the spirit of the new positive science (not so much through the influence of Descartes as through that of Locke and Hume). Riehl proposed there that the evolution of Kant's thought be studied, and in the second and third volumes of Der philosophische Kritizismus Riehl reassessed and amplified his own views. Volume I: Geschichte und Methode der philosophischen Kriticismus. Volume II: Die sinnlichen und logischen Grundlagen der Erkenntniss. Volume III: Zur Wissenschaftstheorie und Metaphysik. - Some leadpencil annotations, tiny piece torn off in outer upper blank margin of title of voplume 1, a good copy of a rare and important work. EUR 375
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ROUSSEAU - GUDIN (DE LA BRENELLERIE), P.PH. Supplément au Contrat Social. A Paris, Chez Maradan & Perlet, 1791. With folding table. xii, 298, (2) pp. 8vo. Contemporary marbled calf, spine gilt in compartments, red label with gilt lettering, yellow edges, very lightly worn. Conlon, Ouvrages Français relatifs à Jean-Jacques Rousseau, 1751-1799, 861; Einaudi 2787; INED 2181; Martin & Walter, 15893. One of two editions (the other being in 12mo) from the year of first publication, no priority established. 'Le plus grand problème de la politique, c'est de trouver le moyen de n'avoir dans un Etat ni gens désoeuvrés, ni gens sans propriété.' Includes demographical considerations and demographical table for Paris, Lyons and Bordeaux for the years 1709-1789. The work was adressed to the Assemblée nationale and it argued in favor of a constitutional monarchy. Only Conlon lists both the 8vo and 12mo edition of this work. EUR 600
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ROUSSEAU, J.J. Discours sur l'origine et les fondemens de l'inégalité parmi les hommes. A Amsterdam, Chez Marc-Michel Rey, 1755. With engraved frontispiece by Sormique after Eisen, title-vignette, title printed in red and black. lxx, (2), 262, (2, errata, avis pour le relieur) pp. 8vo. Contemporary marbled calf, spine gilt with raised bands, red label with gilt lettering, very lightly rubbed. Dufour 55; Tchemerzine-Scheler, v, p. 532; Goldsmiths 9064; Kress 5470; Higgs 940; Mattioli 3139. First edition, first issue, with the aigu accent on 'conformé' on page 11 added by hand, and the misspelling of the authors name on both the title-page and at the end of the Dedicace: Jean Jaques (sic) Rousseau. The pages lxvii-lxviii, 111-112 and 139-140 are cancels. It was in the late autumn of 1753 the Academy of Dijon announced yet another essay competition, this time on the question 'What is the origin of inequality among men, and is it authorized by Natural Law?' Rousseau responded promptly: 'if the Academy had the courage to raise such a question', he decided, 'I would have the courage to write about it.' 'The result was an essay which is remarkable both as philosophy and science. In less than a hundred pages, Rousseau outlined a theory of the evolution of the human race which prefigured the discoveries of Darwin; he propelled the study of anthropology and linguistics into new channels, and he made a seminal contribution to political and social thought. Even if his argument was seldom fully understood by his readers, it altered people's ways of thinking about themselves and about their world; it even changed their ways of feeling. Of all his books, Rousseau's Discours sur l'origine et les fondemens......... -often referred to as his second Discours- has perhaps been the most influential. (......) It is the masterpiece of his early years' (Cranston, M., Jean-Jacques. The early life and work of Jean-Jacques Rousseau. 1712-1754, chap. 15). - Small stamp in blank outer margin of title-page partly erased. EUR 2500
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SARTRE, J.P. Critique de la raison dialectique (précédé de Question de méthode). Tome 1. Théorie des ensembles pratiques. Paris, Gallimard, 1960. 755, (1) pp. 8vo. Sewn, original printed covers, uncut (Bibliothèque des idées). Contat & Rybalka 60/332; Encyclopedia of Philosophy, vii, pp. 287-293; Thinkers of the Twentieth Century, pp. 676-80. First edition, all published. - Ex-libris pasted on last flyleaf. According to Sartre the Critique de la raison dialectique belongs, together with La nausée (1938) to his most important works. It was his last philosophical essay and written after Sartre's rupture with the French communist party. It gives an analysis of the relation between Sartrian extentialism and marxism. Among critics the question arose whether the Critqiue de la raison dialectique was a complete break from or continuation of Sartre's way of thinking, for example in L'Etre et le néant (1943). Sartre himself saw the book as a new start, L'Etre et le néant is about the question of being, the Critique de la raison dialectique is about the question of freedom. The Question de méthode appeared earlier, in another version, in "Les Temps Modernes", in September 1957. A second volume was never published. EUR 450
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STIRNER, M. (PSEUD. OF J.C. SCHMIDT.) Der Einzige und sein Eigenthum. (Privat-Ausgabe. Veranstaltet von John Henry Mackay). (Leipzig, Offizin von W. Drugulin, 1911). - (Bound with:) STIRNER, M. (PSEUD. OF J.C. SCHMIDT). Das unwahre Prinzip unserer Erziehung oder der Humanismus and Realismus. (Leipzig, Spamersche Buchdruckerei, 1911). (2), 354, (6) pp.; (2), 25 pp. 4to. Grey and blue-brown marbled paper over boards, raised bands with label and gilt lettering, the compartments with a floral decoration, the original covers preserved, gilt lettered scroll to front cover reading 'Plus est en Moi.' The first work is number 116 of 980 copies printed, the second work is number 61 of 980 copies printed. Both are printed on especially prepared Van Gelder-Zonen paper with the name of John Henry Mackay as watermark. The first work is signed by John Henry Mackay on the annotated leaf bound in at the end. The orginal covers are Japanese 'Pergamentpapier'; the idea to have the books bound was abandoned 'da es unmöglich ist, hier den Geschmack des einzelnen auch nur annähernd zu treffen.' The last 6 pages of the first work contain the 'Inhalt', a leaf with the title and at the bottom the text: Beilage zu Exemplar Nr. 116, followed by the annotated leaf which is dated Charlottenburg bei Berlin, 1. Juli 1911 and signed by John Henry Mackay. In the first work Stirner proceeds from Hegelianism to its almost complete inversion in a doctrine that denied all absolutes and all institutions, and based itself solely on the 'ownness' of the human individual. His is the ideal of the man who realizes himself in conflict with the collectivity and other individuals. Striner holds the individual to be the focal point and center of the world and asserted that the feelings and thinking of the individual determine the whole scale of social values and that the is nothing objective outside the individual, or the ego. Since the individual who creates the world through his imagination and will is the only reality, the world belongs to the individual: the world becomes his possession.The ressemblance between Nietzsche and Stirner is striking and indeed Nietzsche regarded Stirner as one of the unrecognized seminal minds of the nineteenth century. With the growing vogue for Nietzsche at the end of the century Stirner's work witnessed a popular revival. But Stirners greatest influence was exerted upon anarchism, many years after his death. It is still a classic of libertarian thought in which the uniqueness of the individual is stressed.Max Stirner, born as Johann Caspar Schmidt, was born in 1806 in Bayreuth and died in 1856 in Berlin. He was one of the most prominent left-wing Hegelians in Berlin and he contributed, together with Karl Marx and other young bourgeois radicals, to the Rheinische Zeitung, the journal of the advanced wing of the industrial and banking circles in the Rhineland. The present work is his major and most celebrated work which made a strong impression on the German intelligentsia and which was widely read and reviewed. The work was published in 1844 (although the title-page on all first editions reads 1845) and it forced Marx and Engles to write extensive refutations of Stirner's ideas in their Die deutsche Ideologie.John Henry Mackay, the Scots born German poet, was the chief instrument in the revival of Stirnerism. He met Stirner's name very early in his career while reading Lange's History of Materialism, and was moved to read Stirner's book. Mackay was so impressed that he devoted part of his life to the rediscovery and rehabilitation of the lost and forgotten genius. His biography of Stirner appeared in Berlin in 1898 and it is a tribute to his thoroughness that since its publication not one important fact about Stirner has been discovered by anybody. EUR 1250
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TOUSSAINT, N.I.B. Essai sur la manière dont les sensations se transforment en idées, ou De la connexion nécessaire des idées et des signes. Pour servir de réponse à l'article de M. le comte Lanjuinas, inséré dans la 64e livraison de la Revue Encyclopédique, relativement à une petite brochure de seize page (sic) sur l'Idée, par le même. Paris, Delaunay & Ponthieu, 1824. 48 pp. 8vo. Sewn, disbound, no covers. On the nature and formation of ideas and its relation with signs or words. The text by Lanjuinais to which Toussaint replies is included in the text. EUR 200
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TRIDON, G. Les Hébertistes. Plainte contre une calomnie de l'histoire. Paris, chez l'auteur, 1864. 48 pp. 8vo. Modern boards, the original printed front cover preserved. Stammhammer, ii, 326; DBMOF, vol. ix, pp. 234-235. First edition. The first rehabilitation of the 'Hebertists', in which the author ranks Hébert, Cloots and Chaumette among the martyrs of thought, together with Giordano Bruno, Vanini and Servet. The work was seized immediately upon its publication and the author condemned to four months of imprisonment. The preface of the book, not signed, was done by Blanqui.Gustave Tridon, raised in a bourgeis family, moved to Paris and became adherant of Proudhon. He was condamned to prison for an article he wrote in Le Travail ('outrage à la morale publique et religieuse') and in prison he met Blanqui and became Blanquiste. - Somewhat spotted, stamp "Timbre Imperial" on title EUR 125
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TRIDON, G. Les Hébertistes. Plainte contre une calomnie de l'histoire. Paris, chez l'auteur, 1864. 48 pp. 8vo. Modern boards, original front cover preserved. Stammhammer,ii, p. 328; DBMOF, vol. ix, pp. 234-235. First edition. The first rehabilitation of the 'Hebertists', in which the author ranks Hébert, Cloots and Chaumette among the martyrs of thought, together with Giordano Bruno, Vanini and Servet. The work was seized immediately upon its publication and the author condemned to four months of imprisonment. The preface of the book, not signed, was done by Blanqui.Gustave Tridon, raised in a bourgeis family, moved to Paris and became adherant of Proudhon. He was condamned to prison for an article he wrote in Le Travail ('outrage à la morale publique et religieuse') and in prison he met Blanqui and became Blanquiste. On the blank page preceding the title a newspaper clipping has been pasted "Déclaration des Accusés de Lyon Janvier 1883": it contains a declaration of "faith" of the anarchists. Among the names we find Kropotkin, Gautier, Courtois, Crestin, Desgranges, Berlioz, Artaud, etc. - Stamp on title. EUR 125
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TRIDON, G. Les Hébertistes. Plainte contre une calomnie de l'histoire. Paris, chez l'auteur, 1864. 48 pp. 8vo. Modern boards, original covers preserved. Stammhammer, ii, p. 326; Maitron, DBMOF. vol. 9, pp. 234-235; Le Quillec 2487. First edition. The first rehabilitation of the 'Hebertists', in which the author ranks Hébert, Cloots and Chaumette among the martyrs of thought, together with Giordano Bruno, Vanini and Servet. The work was seized immediately upon its publication and the author condemned to four months of imprisonment. Nevertheless, the work was very influential and widely read. According to Maitron, the unsigned preface has been written by Blanqui.Tridon came from a wealthy family and used his resources among others to allow Blanqui to publish his La Patrie en Danger. - Stamp "Timbre Imperial" on title-page. EUR 175
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VOLNEY, C.F. (CHASSEBOEUF, COMTE DE.) The law of nature, or principles of morality deduced from the physical constitution of mankind and the universe. Printed for T. Stephens by F. & R. Bailey, 1796. viii, (2), 161, (1) pp. 16mo. Contemporary marbledcalf, gilt decorative border on sides, spine gilt with gilt lettering. Martin & Walter, 33801. First English edition. Volney, French philosophe and historian. His revolutionary career was quite distinguished: he defended civil rights and freedoms, attacked the church strongly, and later opposed the excesses of the Jacobins. In 1795 he went to the United States where he was well received by Washington. Adams, however, was unforgiving of Volney's severe criticisms of his political writings. In addition, a theological quarrel with Joseph Priestley, who was then in America, did not dispose Adams favorably towards visiting philosophers. Accused of being a secret agent, Volney was forced to leave America in 1798, but by then he had travelled all over the country. The present work is a translation of his important La Loi naturelle, ou Catéchimse du citoyen français. In this work he affirmed a natural law given by God, but this natural law is essentially physical. The moral aspect of natural law is only an extension of the biological requirement for self-preservation and 'perfection' on the part of the individual and the species. Consequently, morals could become an exact science (L.G. Crocker in the Encyclopedia of Philosophy). "Volney was in essence a man of the Enlightenment. His rationalism, his distrust of all forms of prejudices, his hostility against dogmas, his faith in progress, his open mind for alternative ideas, and his deep concern for the investigation of facts made him a true disciple of Diderot, Helvétius, and d'Holbach. Volnay, however, thought differently from his predecessors on several important points and opened the way for the development of ethnology and cross-cultural psychology. (.....) Volnay was one of the first Europeans to understand the importance of the scientific study of acculturation, but he came too early" (Muarice Mauviel in: Encyclopedia of the Enlightenment, vol. 4, pp. 233-235). EUR 750
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VOLTAIRE (F.M. AROUET DE.) L'Homme aux Quarante écus. No place (Genève, Cramer), 1768. (2), 120 pp. 8vo. Nineteenth-century half morocco, raised bands, gilt lettering, marbled boards. Bengesco 1478; Le Petit, p. 557; Peignot ii, p. 188; R. Darnton, The Corpus of Clandestine Literature in France 1769-1789, 317; no copies in Kress, Goldsmiths, Einaudi, Higgs and INED although they record other editions from this year. First edition, with the errata uncorrected and listed on page 120. 'The Homme aux Quarante Ecus is in fact the only one of Voltaire's publications on a distinctly economic subject. The dogmatic and often pompous and heavy style of the Physiocrats had probably bored him, as well as their abstract and subtle mode of reasoning. L'Homme aux Quarante Ecus, directed against Mercier de la Rivière's Ordre naturel et essentiel des societies politiques, is the history of the owner of a small estate yielding a net income of forty crowns a year, who has been frightened by the appearance of several edicts promulgated "by a few gentlemen who, having some leisure, have undertaken to govern the kingdom from their firesides.'' Overflowing with wit and sarcasm, the book consists of conversations between the man with the forty crowns and the most motley succession of people and, with the author's usual unfairness, is not free from misrepresentations and gross exaggerations of Mercier's real meaning' (Palgrave, iii, p. 632). 'Mercier avait prétendu que, dans un Etat organisé selon la doctrine physiocratique, une somme moyenne de cent vingt francs (quarante écus) devait suffire à l'existence de chaque citoyen. De là le titre que Voltaire donne à la réfutation burlesuqe de leur système. Il y ridiculise surtout l'impôt unique sur la terre réclamé par les Economistes, et qui réduira l'homme aux quarante écus à n'en avoir plus que vingt, tandis que prospèreront à côté de lui de gros financiers inexpugnables à l'impôt' (Coquelin et Guillaumin, ii, p. 855).The book is a brilliant parable, which had an enormous success immediately on its appearance. It was quickly condamned and forbidden and most editions appearing from then on were published without indication of either place or printer. - Copy without the half-title. EUR 1400
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VOLTAIRE (F.M. AROUET DE.) Mémoires pour servir à la vie de M. de Voltaire, Écrits par lui-même. A Berlin, 1784. (2), 106 pp. 8vo. Modern boards, label with gilt lettering to spine. Bengesco 1642;Thomas, p. 221 (editions published in England); Quérard, La France Littéraire, vol. x, pp. 365-366. First edition. - Some unobtrusive scattered spotting, leaf Biv with a small loss in the lower blank margin. These memoirs were probably written around 1759 but not published by Voltaire himself. In fact he burned the original manuscript but retained two copies made by his secretary Wagnière. Both came into the hands of others of which one into the hands, in 1783, of Beaumarchais. Beaumarchais, one of the 'entrepreneurs' of the Kehl edition of Voltaire's works, was unwilling to publish these memoirs as he felt that he could not publish what Voltaire had refused to publish himself. But when the memoirs were published in 1784 the publishers of the Kehl edition decided that there was no longer a point in not publishing the text: it was later included in volume LXX of the 8vo edition.Voltaire wrote these memoirs after his dissapointing stay at the court of the Prussian king but was unwilling to publish them and apparently destroyed the original manuscript after the reconciliation between the two man. La Harpe and Mme. Denis later took possession of one of the copies which then started on a 'tour de France' until publication in 1784. La Harpe and Mme. Denis were expelled from Ferney. EUR 900
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VOLTAIRE - CATALOGUE. Exposition organisée à l'occasion du bicentenaire de sa mort. Catalogue rédigé par Jeroom Vercruysse avec le concours de Michèle Mat-Hasquin et d'Anne Rouzet. Bruxelles, Bibliothèque Royale Albert 1er, 1978. With illustrations. 212, (1) pp. Large 8vo. Sewn in original printed covers. EUR 125
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VOLTAIRE, (PSEUD. OF F. M. AROUET.) Poëmes, épitres et autres poésies. London (Cazin), 1779. With engraved portrait of the elder Voltaire in oval medaillon. (4), 246 pp.18mo. Contemporary calf with gilt decorated spine (corners slightly worn). Bengesco 635; Cioranescu 63975; Quérard, vol. x, p. 308. - Some pages disbound. Very nice Cazin edition of a collection of works that had appeared before in 1777 in Genève (with another portrait). Contains a.o. Le poëme de Fontenoy; Sur le désastre de Lisbonne; La Loi naturelle; Discours sur l'homme; Épitre au Roi de la Chine; A M. Marmontel, etc.The Cazin publications are reknown for their quality but also for their licentious contents: in fact Cazin was fined, had his books confiscated and spent time in the Bastille. EUR 325
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VOLTAIRE, (PSEUD. OF F. M. AROUET.) Poëmes, épitres et autres poésies. London (Cazin), 1779. With engraved portrait of the elder Voltaire in oval medaillon. (4), 246 pp.18mo. Contemporary marbled paper, some loss of paper to spine, uncut. Bengesco 635; Cioranescu 63975; Quérard, vol. x, p. 308. Very nice Cazin edition of a collection of works that had appeared before in 1777 in Genève (with another portrait). Contains a.o. Le poëme de Fontenoy; Sur le désastre de Lisbonne; La Loi naturelle; Discours sur l'homme; Épitre au Roi de la Chine; A M. Marmontel, etc.The Cazin publications are reknown for their quality but also for their licentious contents: in fact Cazin was fined, had his books confiscated and spent time in the Bastille. - Some pages disbound. EUR 325
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WOLFF, C. Cosmologia generalis methodo scientifica pertractata, qua ad solidam, inprimis dei atque naturae cognitionem via sternitur. Editio novissima emendator. Verona, apud hearedes Marci Moroni, 1779. viii, 263 pp. 4to. Contemporary marbled calf, spine gilt with raised bands. Ziegenfuß, ii, p. 907. First edition was published in 1731. Christian Wolff (1679-1754) was an outstanding philosopher and mathematician. His philosophy is close to that of Leibnitz and his system can be seen as a modification of the philosophy of Leibnitz. Wolff held an almost undisputed sway in Germany untill his philosophy was displaced by the Kantian revolution. The merits of Wolff's philosophy are his comprehensive view of philosophy, as embracing in its survey the whole field of human knowledge, his insistence everywhere on clear and methodic exposition, and his confidence in the power of reason to reduce all subjects to this form. To these must be added that he was practically the first 'to teach philosophy to speak German'. EUR 900
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WOLFF, C. Psychologia rationalis methodo scientifica pertractata, que ea, quae de anima humana indubia experientiae fide innotescunt, per essentiam et naturam animae explicantur, et adintimiorem naturae ejusque auctoris cognitionem profutura proponuntur. Editio novissima emendatior. Verona, apud hearedes Marci Moroni, 1779. (8), 364 pp. 4to. Contemporary marbled calf, spine gilt with raised bands, red label with gilt lettering (very slightly worn). ZiegenfuB, ii, p. 907. First edition was published in 1734. - Ex-libris 'Biblioteca Del Excmo. Senor Marques de Astorga' pasted in blank outer margin of the dedication. Christian Wolff (1679-1754) was an outstanding philosopher and mathematician. His philosophy is close to that of Leibnitz and is seen as a modification of the philosophy of Leibnitz. Wolff held almost undisputed sway in Germany till his philosophy was replaced by the Kantian revolution. The merits of Wolff's philosophy are his comprehensive view of philosophy as embracing in its survey the whole field of human knowledge, his insistence everywhere on clear and methodic exposition, and his confidence in the power of reason to reduce all subjects to this form. To this must be added that he was practically the first to 'teach philosophy to speak German'. EUR 600
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WOLFF, CH. Philosophia practica universalis methodo scientifica pertractata. Pars prior theoriam complectens, qua omnis actionum humanarum differentia omnisque juris ac obligationum omnium principia a priori demonstrantus (at title of vol. 2:) Pars posterior, praxin complectens, qua omnis praxeos moralis principia inconcussa ex ipsa animae humanae nature a priori demonstrantur. Editio novissima emendatior. Verona, apud hearedes Marci Moroni, 1779. 2 volumes. (12), 304 pp.; (12), 452 pp. 4to. Contemporarymarbled calf, spine gilt with raised bands, red and green labels. Ziegenfuß, ii, p. 907. First published in 1738-1739 Christian Wolff (1679-1754) was an outstanding philosopher and mathematician. His philosophy is close to that of Leibnitz, and his system can be seen as a modification of the philosophy of Leibnitz. Wolff held almost undisputed sway in Germany till his philosophy was displaced by the Kantian revolution. The merits of Wolff's philosophy are his comprehensive view of philosophy, as embracing in its survey the whole field of human knowledge, his insistence everywhere on clear and methodic exposition, and his confidence in the power of reason to reduce all subjects to this form. To these must be added that he was practically the first to 'teach philosophy to speak German'. EUR 900
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