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LOT 2214
General Books - De L'Esprit Des Lois - Nouvelle Edition - Volume I
1781 A.D.
6 3/4 x 4 in. (403 grams, 17 x 10.2 cm).
Anonymous; attributed to Charles Louis de Secondat, Baron de La Brède et de Montesquieu - Amsterdam, 1781, hardback with full-calf binding, marbled endpapers and edging, 430pp; two maps (detached). [No Reserve]
ProvenanceProperty of an Essex gentleman.
FootnotesThe work 'On the Spirit of Laws' is an extended essay on political theory and comparative law, originally published anonymously due to its radical content. It gained great influence outside France through translation into many other languages. In 1751 the Roman Catholic Church added it to its Index Librorum Prohibitorum (List of Banned Books).
Montesquieu spent about ten years researching and writing the text which deals with a range of topics including law, society and the more general study of humanity (anthropology). He maintained that political institutions needed to reflect the social and geographical aspects of the originating community in order to succeed. The work calls for a constitutional system of government with separation of the various powers, preservation of legality and of civil liberties, and the abolition of institutional slavery. The first edition proved highly controversial and had to be amended (whence the 'Nouvelle Edition' here) including removing certain pages which contained incautious statements on the institution of monarchy, on Cardinal Richelieu, and on the government of other countries.
The maps are detached from the book; both are dated 1764, by Robert de Vaugondy. The larger is a map of the world with parts of North and South America, Africa and Australia left blank. The smaller encompasses Europe and 'European Russia' with Ukraine marked as 'Little Tartary'.
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LOT 2214
General Books - De L'Esprit Des Lois - Nouvelle Edition - Volume I
Sold for (Inc. bp): £46
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General Books - Theophanis Archiepiscopi Nicaeni, Qvae Extant Opera
1590 A.D.Estimate: £400 - 600 (+bp*)
Opening Bid: £200
Consalus Ponce de Leon - Rome, 1590, hardback (rebound), 176 pp. 190 grams, 17.2 x 11.3 cm
Property of an Essex gentleman.
This is the unique first edition of the complete works of Theophanes, comprising three letters from the archbishop of Nicaea which are now in the Vatican Library. The author, Theophanes, was active in the early ninth century; the translator, Ponce de Leon, was born around 1530 and was well educated, able to read Greek sufficiently well to translate it into Latin. He had access to a good library (possibly at the Vatican). He calls himself 'Cubicularius secretus' to Pope Sixtus V: a 'cubicularius' is a chamberlain, or head of the private servants; a position which afforded him access to both a great library and some very knowledgeable contacts.. This publication was edited by Ioannes Bonafes and the book bears the legend on the title page (in Latin) 'The existing works of Theophanes, archbishop of Nicaea; now first published in Latin from the Greek, in the Vatican Library'. A copy of the same book is in the famous Onassis Library (ref. 33522). -
General Books - Peches dans l'Amerique du Nord
1886 A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £1
Bénédict-Henry Révoil - Tours, 1886, hardback with cloth covers, gilt edging, 286 pp. 1.43 kg, 29.7 x 21.5 cm
Property of an Essex gentleman. -
General Books - Astronomiæ, Physicæ et Geometricæ Elementa
1726 A.D.Estimate: £300 - 400 (+bp*)
Opening Bid: £150
Davidus Gregorius - Geneva, 1726 (2nd edition, revised and corrected), marbled boards in quarter-calf binding, foldout tables and charts, 427 pp + appendix and index; spine chipped, damaged. 1.47 kg, 25 x 21 cm
Property of an Essex gentleman.
