Discours qui a remporté le prix à l'Académie de Dijon en l'année 1750
Very rare first edition of the first philosophical discourse by Jean-Jacques Rousseau, in which the author asserts for the first time that man is naturally good.
A precious untrimmed copy.
Comprising 3 works bound in one octavo volume of (4) ff., 66 pp., XXII pp., 99 pp., 2 illustrations, pp., XII, 72 pp.
Half brown calf with corners, boards covered with marbled paper, spine with raised bands decorated with gilt fillets, untrimmed copy. Contemporary binding.
214 x 128 mm.
Rousseau, Jean-Jacques. Discourse which won the prize at the Academy of Dijon in the year 1750. On this question posed by the same Academy: “Has the restoration of the Sciences & Arts contributed to purifying morals.” By a Citizen of Geneva.
Geneva, Barillot & Sons.
Followed by: Voltaire. La Merope, a tragedy. New edition.
Amsterdam & Leipzig, Arkstée & Merkus, 1744.
Followed by: Voltaire. The Orphan of China, a tragedy.
London, Jean Nourse, 1756.
Very rare first edition of the first philosophical Discourse by Rousseau in which the author claims for the first time that man is naturally good.
Dufour, p.14, no.13; Dictionary of Jean-Jacques Rousseau, R. Trousson, pp. 229-232.
Fundamental text that allows Rousseau to lay the foundations of his philosophical thought: civilization has corrupted primitive man.
This is the author’s first philosophical discourse.
“The second part of the Discourse considers the sciences and the arts “in themselves” to show what logically must “result from their progress.” The citizen of Geneva aligns himself neither with the wise nor with politicians but with “ordinary men” who will seek their happiness within themselves, confining themselves to “doing good” rather than “speaking well.” In a decisive way, Rousseau renewed the quarrel between the Ancients and the Moderns in so far as he recalls the urgency of linking the cultural debate to an awareness of fundamental political choices” (Dictionary of Jean-Jacques Rousseau).
“Still unknown, Rousseau faced the general public for the first time. The success of the book was dazzling. This paradoxical critique of knowledge and refinement of manners, written in an admirable style of vigor and clarity, full of bookish references, provoked numerous reactions.
In the preliminary Discourse of the Encyclopedia (1751) D’Alembert praised “the eloquent writer and philosopher” who accused the sciences and the arts of corrupting morals, noting that this did not prevent him from collaborating on the great philosophical enterprise.
In a letter to Malesherbes, Jean-Jacques Rousseau said that along with the “Discourse on Inequality” and “Emile,” the “Discourse” is one of his three main works in which he wanted to demonstrate “that man is good by nature and that it is only through institutions that men become wicked”” (Dictionary of J-J Rousseau).
The announcement of the Dijon competition appeared in the Mercure de France of October 1749.
“The Discourse that won the Morality Prize at the Academy of Dijon has just been printed, on this question: Has the restoration of the Sciences and the Arts contributed to purifying morals, Rousseau of Geneva combined in this work Erudition, Eloquence & Philosophy. We do not hesitate to say that it is one of the finest Discourses ever crowned in the Academies.” (Le Mercure de France, 1st volume of December 1750, p.130).
Precious copy with all margins.
