LE MERCIER DE LA RIVIÈRE Pierre-Paul L’Ordre naturel et essentiel des sociétés politiques.

Goldsmiths’, 10269 ; Kress, 6475 ; Higgs, 3979 ; neither Einaudi nor INED cite this edition.

First edition, rare.

One of the most important expositions of physiocratic doctrine, along with Mirabeau’s Philosophie rurale. Admired by Adam Smith, Diderot and Dupont de Nemours, this treatise theorising ‘ despotisme légal’ as an interpretation of the order of nature – the absolute sovereign directing economic activity without harming the natural freedom of his subjects – was criticised by Mably and Voltaire, who contrasted it with his tale entitled ‘L’Homme aux quarante écus’.

Provenance: Étienne François, marquis d’Aligre (1727-1798), first president of Parliament in Paris and member of a highly influential family during the Ancien régime (book plate).

An attractive copy, printed on thick paper.