The Spirit of Laws, Translated from the French of M de Secondat...
A Significant Copy of the 'Oracle' of the American Constitution Montesquieu, Charles-Louis de Secondat, Baron de [1689-1755]. [Nugent, Thomas (c.1700-1772), Translator]. The Spirit of Laws. Translated from the French of M. de Secondat, Baron de Montesquieu. The Fifth Edition. Carefully Revised and Improved with Considerable Additions by the Author. London: Printed for J. Nourse, And P. Vaillant, 1773. Two volumes. [iv], xlvii, [1], 468; [iv], xvi, 534, [46] pp. Octavo (8-1/4" x 5"; 21 x 12.7 cm). Contemporary speckled calf, gilt spines with raised bands and lettering pieces, gilt tooling to board edges, marbled endpapers. Light rubbing and scuffing to boards, faint vertical cracks through centers of spines, joints just starting at ends. Light toning to interiors, heavier toning to a few leaves, small early armorial owner stamp, E C below a rising eagle, to title pages. $2,500. * This is the fifth stated English edition of De L'Esprit des Lois, perhaps the most influential work of eighteenth-century political science. This 1773 printing is particularly desirable as it represents the text in its most "carefully revised" state, incorporating the author's final corrections and additions during the height of American revolutionary fervor. Nugent's translation, first appearing in 1750, was famously lauded by Montesquieu himself for its ability to preserve the original tone of his prose. The work was so provocative that it was placed on the Roman Catholic Church's Index Librorum Prohibitorum in 1751, yet it became the primary "oracle" for the American Founding Fathers. Its theories on the sociology of law, the separation of powers, and the necessity of checks and balances were directly incorporated into the U.S. Constitution by figures such as Thomas Jefferson and James Madison. Based largely on Montesquieu's study of the English Constitution, it remains a cornerstone of Western jurisprudence and the definitive proposal for the tripartite system of government. Dauchy [et al.], The Formation and Transmission of Western Legal Culture: 150 Books that Made the Law in the Age of Printing 115. Sowerby, Catalogue of the Library of Thomas Jefferson 2325 (citing a collected edition of Montesquieu's works). English Short-Title Catalogue N23470.
Price: $2,500.00
Book number 79369