Annales politiques

Second edition, after the first of 1757.
Contemporary full calf binding. Smooth spine, decorated. Red morocco title label, and black morocco volume label. Two small tears with lacks on the upper cover of volume I. Handsome copy.
Essay on political events in France from 1658 to 1739. Considering the bitter criticisms against Louis XIV whose policy Castel judged despotic, Castel's family preferred posthumous publication. The work is much more than a political essay, the events being only a pretext for the author to establish his economic and political theories specific to the Enlightenment. The essence of the author's thought being the happiness of peoples. He is the author of the famous "Projet pour une paix perpetuelle en Europe" premises of the future Europe (EEC). To situate the spirit of the character, let us recall that he was excluded from the French Academy for having criticized the way ministers were appointed by the king, when they should have been elected by a council.