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Charles de Secondat MONTESQUIEU

De l'esprit des loix

Barillot & fils [Durand], à Genève [Paris] s.d. (1749), in-4 (19x25cm), (8) XXIV, 522pp. (1) et (4) XVI, 564pp., 2 volumes reliés (18,8x25,1cm).

Second edition in order of publications. Parisian counterfeit published in January 1749 (it would have been printed by Prault); the original, extraordinarily rare, dates from October 1748. This counterfeit is distinguished by a few points: it reproduces the same pagination errors in the preface as in the first edition. The address only has one R in Barillot. There must be a errata sheet at the end of volume I, a detail which attests to the first issue of this second edition. Although rare, this counterfeit is much easier to find that the earlier 1748 edition, which was mainly sold in England.
Contemporary binding in full brown sheep, spine in five compartments decorated with gilt panels and fleurons, title pieces in red morocco, triple blind tool frame on the boards, gilt roll tooling on the spine-ends, all edges red. Three caps and several corners skillfully restored.
Emblematic and flagship book of the 18^th century, @L'Esprit des lois# (The Spirit of the Laws), namely the principles and trends by which bills become law, will have a decisive influence on political life, and will be a guide for the writing of the 1791 constitution and that of the United States.
Handwritten ex-libris: Madame de Dumesnil.

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