Extremely rare first edition, probably printed in Prussia, of this essay written directly in French by Baron de Bielfeld (1716–1770), inspector of Prussian universities and a friend of Frederick the Great since the time when he was still Crown Prince of Prussia.
GV 1700–1910, vol. 111, p. 374. Not in Conlon (who only cites the Amsterdam edition of the same year). No copy located in the U.S.A.
Full red morocco with gilt decoration, smooth spine elaborately tooled in the grotesque style, gilt rolls on the caps, triple gilt fillet border on the covers, gilt fillets on the edges, star-patterned gilt paper endpapers and doublures, gilt dentelle border on the inside covers, all edges gilt, contemporary binding.
Small black spots on the boards, a few insignificant scattered foxmarks.
The author clearly intended this work to flatter his sovereign by showing how the princes of the House of Brandenburg, and particularly “the monarch who now occupies the throne,” had “the glorious maxim of granting their subjects full freedom of thought and generous protection to all talents.”
A fine copy, bound in a Parisian binding from one of the capital’s finest workshops, preserved in near-perfect condition.