MONTESQUIEU Charles de Secondat De l’esprit des loix.

Tchemerzine-Scheler, IV, 929 ; PMM, 197 ; En français dans le texte, 138; Dangeau, 15. – On the publishing history of De L’Esprit des lois, see : C. Volpilhac-Auger, G. Sabbagh and F. Weil, Un auteur en quête d’éditeurs ? Histoire éditoriale de l’œuvre de Montesquieu, Paris, 2011, pp. 24-146.

First edition of one of the fundamental works of modern political science.

“In many ways one of the most remarkable works of the 18th century, The Spirit of Law, owing in the main to the high plane of generalization on which it is written, defies easy classification and for that reason has never enjoyed a great popularity. So, too, its author puzzled his contemporaries, and very diverse opinions were passed on him and his work even by the philosophes, whose predecessor Montesquieu was… His theories underlay the thinking which led up to the American and French revolutions, and the United States Constitution in particular is a lasting tribute to the principles he advocated ” (PMM).

“Distinguant, selon les degrés de liberté qu’ils comportent, trois formes de gouvernement, la république (démocratie et aristocratie), la monarchie et le despotisme”, Montesquieu se livre à l’analyse de “la forme de chaque gouvernement pour découvrir les lois propres, c’est-à-dire fondamentales, à chacun, et en déduire les lois positives que chacun de ces gouvernements doit adopter” cf. (Louis Desgraves, in : En français dans le texte).

This copy with all the cancels as described by Tchemerzine. Some smaller stains, mostly in the margins and the occasional small tear; bindings slightly restored.