Dictionnaire ou traité de la police générale des villes, bourgs, paroisses, et seigneuries de la campagne...

First edition.

Contemporary full blonde calf binding with marbled decoration. Decorated spine with raised bands. Red morocco title label. Head worn. 2 corners slightly bumped. Headcaps rubbed. A reasonably good copy.
This police treatise is undoubtedly the best testimony one can find on the customs and daily life of the French in the 18th century. It shows what was done regarding wolves or masterless dogs, plague, games in fairs and markets, latrines... Compared to the famous police treatise by Delamare, which the author mentions in his preface, this present treatise has a more practical aim, which is why it has been put in dictionary form. It contains not only all the edicts relating to a question but also precious commentaries by the author. Colbert defined police in these terms in an ordinance of 1669: 'Police consists in ensuring public peace and that of individuals, in procuring abundance and in making each person live according to their condition'.

Label: Librairie Raymond Clavreuil.

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