[Du contrat social ou] Principes du droit politique
“ The Social Contract remains Rousseau’s greatest work. It had the most profound influence on the political thinking of the generation following its publication ” (PMM).
First edition of the Social Contract “ burned in Geneva ” in June 1762 (Voltaire).
Beautiful copy printed on heavy paper preserved in its contemporary binding.
Marbled calf, spine with raised bands decorated with double fillet and gilt floral ornaments, gilt lettering-piece in morocco, gilt fillet on edges, red edges.Contemporary binding.
193 x 125 mm.
Rousseau, Jean-Jacques. [The Social Contract or] Principles of Political Right.
Amsterdam, Marc-Michel Rey, 1762.
Preceded by:
Argenson. Considerations on the Former and Present Government of France.
Amsterdam, Marc-Michel Rey, 1765.
First edition of the Social Contract, Rousseau’s major work which “exerted a decisive influence on the evolution of political and moral thought in the modern world” (Dictionnaire des Œuvres).
Tchemerzine, v, 543; Dufour, 133; R.A. Leigh, Unsolved problems in the bibliography of Rousseau, Cambridge, 1990; Sénelier, Bib. Rousseau, 554; PMM, 207; En français dans le texte, 162.
First edition with type B title according to Dufour; modern research describes a third state, depending on whether the note on the “republican marriage” on pages 321-322 is present or not. All three states, rare and sought-after, constitute the first edition of the Social Contract, one of the most important works of the Enlightenment.
“This little book was burned in Geneva” in June 1762. (Voltaire)
Although not officially condemned by the administrative authorities, copies of the Social Contract were actively sought out. No copy was allowed to be imported from Amsterdam and no French bookseller was permitted to sell or publish it. The work was, within just a few months, reprinted, counterfeited, and pirated many times.
One of the founding books of the democratic system.
“The Contrat Social remains Rousseau’s greatest work. It was the first great emotional plea for the equality of all men in the state. His fundamental thesis that governments depend absolutely on the mandate of people and his genuine creative insight into a number of political and economic problems gave his work an indisputable cogency. It had the most profound influence on the political thinking of the generation following its publication ” (PMM).
Rousseau’s work is preceded by D’Argenson’s Considerations on the Former and Present Government of France, a work advocated by Rousseau in the Social Contract and which was immediately banned.
Reprint of the first edition, published the previous year, of this pioneering text in which the Marquis d’Argenson notably advocates economic liberalism.
"This work, which can be seen as a prelude to much of the economic writing of France, later in the century, was praised by Rousseau in the 'Contrat social', and has some points in common with Quesnay's writings" (Spengler 73-74).
The rare and sought-after first edition of the Social Contract preserved in its contemporary binding.
