An Essay on Crimes and Punishments, Edinburgh, 1788.
"One of the Most Influential Books in the Whole History of Criminology" Beccaria, [Cesare Bonesana, Marchese di] [1738-1794]. An Essay on Crimes and Punishments. By the Marquis Beccaria of Milan. With a Commentary by M. de Voltaire. Edinburgh: Printed by James Donaldson, 1788. 238 pp. 12mo. (6-3/4" x 4"). Recent buckram, gilt fillets, title and library name to spine, endpapers renewed. Light soiling, negligible light rubbing to extremities, library bookplate and small shelf label to front pastedown. Light toning to interior, light soiling in a few places, faint creases to a few leaves, faint dampstaining to upper corner of pp. 149-156, ink library stamps to title page and a few other leaves, later pencil annotation to p. 47. $250. * Third and final Edinburgh edition. First published in Livorno in 1764 as Dei Delitti e Delle Pene, this landmark work is, to quote Printing and the Mind of Man, "one of the most influential books in the whole history of criminology." It is significant because it was the first systematic study of the subject. Infused with the spirit of the Enlightenment, its advocacy of crime prevention and the abolition of torture and capital punishment marked a significant advance in criminological thought, which had changed little since the Middle Ages. It had a profound influence on the development of criminal law. It was especially influential among American thinkers, who saw Beccaria as a source of enlightened ideas to reform English common law. Printing and the Mind of Man 209 (citing first edition). English Short-Title Catalogue T138990.
Price: $250.00
Book number 75959