Traites de Legislation Civile et Penale, 3 Vols. 1802, First edition.
Bentham's Traites de Legislation (1802), First Edition with Remarkably Rapid Early Reception Bentham, Jeremy [1748-1832]. Dumont, Pierre Etienne Louis [1759-1829], Editor and Translator. Traites de Legislation Civile et Penale, Precedes de Principes Generaux de Legislation, Et d'une Vue d'un Corps Complet de Droit: Termines par un Essai sur l'Influence des Terms et des Lieux Relativement aux Lois. 3 vols. xlii, 370; xx, 434; viii, 452 pp. With half-titles. Complete. Octavo (7-3/4" x 5"). Contemporary quarter calf over marbled boards, gilt-decorated spines. Light rubbing and edgewear, corners bumped, small chip to rear board of Volume II near upper corner. Early owner bookplate in Volume I; small institutional inkstamps to half-titles of Volumes I and III and title page of Volume II. Moderate toning, occasional light foxing. A very good, attractive set. $1,500. * First edition of one of the foundational texts of utilitarian jurisprudence. Edited and shaped for publication by Dumont, the work combines translations of Bentham's manuscripts with a systematic exposition of his theories, including material relating to the Panopticon. Dumont's role was essential: his French redactions made Bentham's thought accessible and secured its early continental reception. An edition of 3,000 copies was issued; Dumont records that these were "distributed more rapidly than [he] had dared to hope," indicating the work's immediate and wide reception. Bentham's ideas on legislation and penal reform are here presented in their first coherent and widely circulated form. No English edition appeared until Boston, 1840; the first British edition followed in 1864. References: Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Harrison, Bentham, xvii. Chou T8.1. Muirhead 17. Also see Dumont's "Advertisement"; Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy.
Price: $1,500.00
Book number 69864