Philosophical treatises, essays, reflections and speeches from humanist thinkers to Enlightenment philosophers

First edition, one of 260 numbered copies on alfa paper.

Fine copy.

Edition illustrated with two frontispieces, one of them a portrait of Fénelon, and twenty-four full-page plates, one for each of the twenty-four books of the Avantures de Telemaque. Copy printed on thick Dutch laid paper.

Bound in full red straight-grain morocco, covers framed with dotted borders, smooth spines decorated with seven dotted fillets, gilt titles and volume numbers, dotted rule on board edges, gilt inner roll-tooled borders, marbled paper pastedowns, all edges gilt. Some very slight rubbing and soiling to bindings, spines sunned, some foxing, offsetting from the plates onto the half-titles.

Bookplate of Thomas Pares (1716-1805), a lawyer in...

First edition in-12 of Jacques le Fataliste et son maître, the very first issue to include three engraved frontispieces. The text is preceded by a tribute to Diderot by Jacques-Henri Meister, a close friend of the author and Grimm's successor at the head of the Correspondance littéraire.

Contemporary marbled sheepskin bindings, gilt borders to the covers, smooth spines with gilt compartments and fleurons, brown lettering-pieces and numbering-pieces, gilt roulette to the board edges, pastedowns in blue paste paper, all edges gilt. Rubbing to the joints and corners, a few scattered spots to the leaves, otherwise an attractive copy.

New quarto edition, revised and corrected by the author, with numerous decorated headpieces, initials and tailpieces.

Full brown calf, spine in six compartments with five raised bands richly gilt-tooled, red morocco lettering-piece, triple blind fillet border to boards, double gilt fillet to board edges, red edges, marbled pastedowns and endpapers.

Light scratches and scuffing to boards, corners slightly bumped, otherwise a very...

First edition of this paean to intoxication, adorned with a charming engraved frontispiece depicting Bacchus seated on a barrel, holding a wine cup in one hand and a bunch of grapes in the other.

Cf. Vicaire 326. Bitting 415. Barbier II, 75 d. Oberlé, Une bibliothèque bachique, 523 (for the 1798 ed.).

Bound in contemporary fawn half-calf with corners, spine with five raised bands decorated with gilt fillets, marbled paper boards, corners slightly worn, edges speckled red.

This work abounds with anecdotes and quotations drawn from the history of many lands. It asserts "that wine gives wit," offers "a catalogue of some illustrious drinkers," and claims "that...

Third edition, revised, corrected, and enlarged with several important Additions by the author published posthumously, and with Remarks by the Translator (our own translation), with the portrait of John Locke by Godfrey Kneller, engraved by François Morellon de La Cave.

Contemporary full brown calf, spine with five raised bands decorated with gilt compartments, brown morocco lettering-piece, triple fillet border to covers in blind, red edges, marbled pastedowns and endpapers.

Headcaps missing, surface...

Second edition, illustrated with a macabre engraved frontispiece (cf. Quérard II, 516; Cioranescu, XVIII, 13544, for the original 1712 edition).

Contemporary handwritten annotations on the title leaf.

Full brown calf binding, spine with five raised bands richly gilt in compartments with decorative tools, red morocco title label largely missing, gilt fillet framing the covers, sprinkled edges, corners rubbed, contemporary binding.

Headcaps worn down, some rubbing to spine and boards.

Second edition of this highly engaging work of early “libertine” philosophy, in the original sense of the term.

The project of the Réflexions was inspired by a remark...

First edition of the French translation, based on the sixth English edition.

Copies listed in the CCF only at the BnF, Dijon, and Rouen libraries.

Our copy is preserved in its original state, in contemporary marbled paper wrappers.

The only edition of this curious political pamphlet, seemingly without any real connection to an English original, which proposes to reorganize Europe through joint—particularly military—control by the four principal continental powers (Austria, France, Spain, and Prussia) over all the others, in order to ensure peace and balance across the continent.

These prophetic, if still utopian, reflections are preceded by an analysis of Europe’s...

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...

The ‘Kehl edition’, the most renowned edition of Voltaire's works, illustrated and published on deluxe paper. It was printed on five different types of paper, and only the deluxe editions, such as ours on laid paper, feature engravings. These are naturally the most sought-after and rarest copies.

Binding in full painted sheep decorated with a “honeycomb” motif, smooth spine tooled with gilt fleurons, fillets and compartments, light beige calf lettering and volume pieces, gilt chain-roll border on covers, marbled endpapers, gilt roll on edges, all edges marbled, contemporary binding. Two volumes (nos. 50 and 70) with slight variations in gilt tools on the spines and...

New edition after the 1562 original. Rare. Brunet II, 789. Italic typeface edition illustrated with about twenty curious figures in and outside the text, notably associating objects with letters. One copy at Manchester library, we found nothing in France and Germany.

Contemporary full vellum binding, smooth spine with handwritten title lengthwise in pen. One tear on the spine (1 cm). Endpapers restored, the title page has been reinforced with two small pieces of paper on the verso.

Lodovico Dolce (1508-1568), Venetian man of letters and humanist, worked on editions of Italian classical texts (Dante, Petrarch...) in collaboration with the publisher Ferrari and renewed...

First edition (cf. Sabin 47206. Leclerc 952.).

Some joints cracked at head and tail, minor marginal losses of no consequence to the temporary wrappers.

The author, Italian by birth, emigrated to America before the Revolution and settled in Virginia near Monticello.

His book, written in collaboration with Condorcet, is of particular interest with regard to the history of independence and the government of the United States, cf. Fay pages 24-25: "Compilation très exacte, qui réfute les théories de Mably et de Raynal et constitue un répertoire précieux de renseignements de tous ordres sur les États-Unis."

Rare and appealing copy preserved in its original...

First edition, of great rarity (cf. Sabin 4182).

Bradel-style binding in full orange paper-covered boards, with a brown shagreen spine label; modern binding.

A very good copy.

A vindication of France’s conduct during the uprising of the British colonies in America.

First edition, very difficult to find complete, as the third volume was published eight years after the first two.

Bound in full mottled bronze-green calf, smooth spines richly decorated with gilt floral compartments, red morocco labels for title and volume number, gilt rolls on the caps, joints slightly rubbed, gilt roll-tooled borders on the covers entirely adorned with oblong geometric patterns in blind, marbled endpapers and pastedowns, gilt Greek-key borders framing the pastedowns, bookplate mounted on the pastedown of the first volume, gilt fillets on the edges, all edges gilt, contemporary bindings.

Contains anecdotes about Rousseau, Poivre, Turgot, Helvétius, Benjamin...

First collected edition of the author's works (see Quérard, V, 642; DSB, IX, 186–189; Poggendorff I, 85).

Printed in Dresden by George Conrad Walther ["Printed in Leipsic by Jean Gottlob Immanuel Breitkopf"]

Full mottled fawn calf, spine with five raised bands richly gilt in compartments with floral tools, red morocco label, joints restored, marbled endpapers and pastedowns, red edges; contemporary binding.

Some occasional foxing; restorations to the joints, edges and corners of the boards.

First edition of the "Works" of Maupertuis. Pages 95 to 142 contain the "Mesure de la terre au Cercle Polaire"; pages 311 to 326 feature the "Relation d'un Voyage fait dans la...

New edition. A steel-engraved portrait frontispiece, printed on China paper and mounted. Printed in very small type, arranged in two columns.

Full polished blond calf binding, signed by Thouvenin at foot of spine. Smooth spine with blind-stamped Gothic architectural elements heightened with gilt dots, gilt fillets and title. Covers blind-stamped with a large Gothic window surrounded by architectural ornaments. Multiple blind-ruled frames with corner fleurons and gilt fillets. Inner dentelles. All edges gilt. Joints discreetly cracked at head. Some foxing and occasional browning to a few pages. Minor rubbing. Spine slightly dulled. A handsome copy.

New edition embellished with a medallion portrait of Montaigne on the title-page, engraved by Noël Pruneau. Reprint of the edition issued by Bastien in 1783, which was limited to 500 copies and quickly sold out.
Contemporary full glazed and speckled brown calf binding. Smooth spine decorated with four floral tools and various roll-tooled ornaments. Black wax lettering and volume labels. Triple fillet border on the boards. A few scattered foxing spots.
Fine copy in a high-quality contemporary binding. Small fragment lacking at the head of the upper joint of volume I. Headcap of volume II restored, with the beginnings of a split to the upper joint. Some rubbing, particularly along the...

First edition.

Contemporary full tree-grained sheepskin, spine with five raised bands, gilt compartments and fleurons between the bands, blond leather lettering-pieces, gilt fillet to the board edges, shell-paper pastedowns, red edges. Some rubbing and losses, corners lightly bumped, upper corner of the rear board damaged, a manufacturing flaw to the pastedowns, minor foxing and soiling.

The fundamental work of sensualist philosophy, in a strictly contemporary binding.

First complete edition.

It is illustrated with two frontispieces, twenty-four full-page engravings, and a folding map of Telemachus's travels. The portrait of Fénelon serving as frontispiece to the first volume is signed Baillieul and Duflos; the second frontispiece, together with the plates, is signed Bonnart fils and Giffart, while the map is drawn by Rousset and engraved by Berey. A few head-pieces, bandeaux, and ornamental initials. 

Bindings in full red morocco signed Chambolle-Duru, richly decorated covers, spine with five raised bands ruled in gilt, gilt panels and fleurons between the bands, author, title, volume number, place and date lettered in gilt on...

New Elzevirian edition of these two works brought together in a single volume.

Two title-pages printed in red and black with the printer’s mark, five headpieces, five initials and three ornamental tailpieces.

Contemporary full vellum binding with small flaps, flat spine with manuscript author, titles and year of publication, traces of ties.

Binding slightly warped and soiled, the second title on the spine rubbed away, occasional very light spotting to the leaves.

Rare new edition based on the first French translation, produced in 1699 by William Popple and published by the Widow of J. van Dyck. A major work by Martin Clifford, originally published anonymously in 1674 under the title A Treatise of Humane Reason, which provoked immediate controversy within the Anglican Church; in the tradition of Spinoza and anticipating Locke, the author assigns a prominent role to reason in the practice of Christian faith. Clifford's more radical positions are thought to have been moderated in the French translation.

A fine large-paper copy on vellum of the 1796 edition, which contains several previously unpublished texts by the author, a frontispiece portrait, 13 illustrations and 2 maps, engraved by Pierre-Alexandre Tardieu, Claude-Nicolas Malapeau, P. F. Tardieu, A. Girardet, Jean Louis Charles Pauquet, François Denis Née, Emmanuel-Jean-Népomucène de Ghendt, Charles Emmanuel Patas, Noël Le Mire and Vincent-Marie Langlois (in order of appearance).

Contemporary half long-grain red morocco bindings, smooth spines divided by...

An intriguing first edition, complete with its engraved frontispiece of the author by Giovanni Volpato after Domenico Corvi, and its introductory poem by the Abbé Luigi Godard. A copy unrecorded in non-European libraries according to WorldCat.

Contemporary binding of fawn mottled calf, smooth spine divided into five gilt compartments by gilt rolls, brown morocco lettering-piece, triple gilt fillet framing the boards, double gilt fillet on the board edges, blue speckled edges, and shell-pattern marbled pastedowns and endpapers.

The lower cap lacking, some surface...

First quarto edition, complete with all volumes and plates, commonly referred to as the “Third Edition” of the Encyclopédie, and also known as the “Encyclopédie de Pellet” or “Encyclopédie de Lyon” or “Encyclopédie du Lac” by Simon-Nicolas-Henri Linguet.

Full marbled and polished brown sheepskin contemporary bindings, spines with five raised bands and four gilt compartments decorated with pomegranate gilt tools, two gilt decorative rolls at foot, title and volume lettering-pieces in red and green morocco, boards twice framed in blind, board edges gilt, all red edges, marbled pastedowns and...

First editions of two works by Baron Jean-Baptiste de Cloots, known as Anacharsis Cloots.

Contemporary half green basane bindings, green paper boards, smooth spines decorated with gilt fillets and dotted rolls, red basane title-labels, yellow edges. Bindings rubbed, some scuffing and losses, a few light corner creases. The "Lettres d'un jeune philosophe à un jeune théologien," a text intended to close La Certitude des preuves du Mahométisme, is bound in the first volume after the first part of the work. It is followed by the "Supplément à la certitude des preuves du mahométisme," and, also in the first volume, by another work by Cloots, the Lettre sur...

Third duodecimo edition, dated the same year as the first edition and, according to McEachern, published in Paris by Duchesne, illustrated with 5 fine plates by Eisen, two in the first volume and one as frontispiece to each of the other volumes. Title-pages printed in red and black. As called for, the first volume has no half-title, unlike the other three volumes. From the watermark "Romanet" "fin", McEachern infers an actual publication date of 1774 or later. The Caillaud mill of the Romanet paper manufactory was, however, active from at least 1760, and editions dated 1762 are known bearing this watermark. We leave this question for specialists to resolve. 

Contemporary...

A unique combination of French translations of the first two philosophical works on the Sublime, marking the beginning of the most important reflection on aesthetics in Western history.
Extremely rare first edition of the first French translation of a philosophical work by Immanuel Kant, and the second ever translation of a Kantian text. The others were only translated during the 19th century. Illustrated with a portrait of the author by Benezy. The first edition in German was published in 1764 in Königsberg under the title "Beobachtungen über das Gefühl des Schönen und Erhabenen".
Contemporary half brown roan binding with vellum corners, smooth...

To make the strength of marriage consist in that of love is to go so far as to misunderstand the spirit of this institution.

Lyon edition of 1609, published at the expense of Jean Pillehotte, the second edition of Busaeus’s Panarion after the original edition issued in Mainz in 1608, and the first known French edition of the text, still in Latin.

Engraved frontispiece-title, presenting an allegory of the seven deadly sins figured as monsters surrounding the risen Christ, his feet set upon a seven-headed dragon, with the motto Vincenti dabo manna absconditum from the Book of Revelation. A few faint spots of foxing and traces of rubbing, a brown stain of approximately one centimetre on the lower board, and a small hole in the lower margin of leaf 553.

Rich...

New edition of Mably’s Entretiens de Phocion, printed by Didot le jeune in Year III [1795] on vellum paper in large quarto format. It is illustrated with two hors-texte plates after Jean-Michel Moreau le Jeune, etched by Giraud and finished respectively by Dambrun and Dupréel. The text is followed by Mably’s Remarques and accompanied by Plutarch’s Life of Phocion in Amyot’s translation.

Copy bearing the crowned monogram of Louis-Philippe. Later binding executed under the July Monarchy in full red straight-grain morocco, attributable to the Simier workshop. Smooth spine decorated with two large rocaille tools arranged vertically, black morocco...

New edition, following the original published in 1766 in Berlin.

It is illustrated with a large folding plate containing 22 Masonic emblems. The first edition includes a frontispiece; it is possible that it is lacking in this later edition.
Contemporary half red shagreen binding, circa 1860, spine with flat false raised bands decorated with gilt fillets, red shagreen title label, some rubbing, particularly at the head.

Title page browned. Some foxing.
The work opens with a history of Freemasonry, followed by a detailed study of the seven following Scottish high degrees: Perfect Elected Mason, Elected of P., Elected of the Fifteen, Little Architect, Grand Architect...

Rare and genuine posthumous first edition of the first six books of the Confessions, the remaining volumes not appearing until 1789. Several other editions were issued shortly thereafter, but the evidence provided by the commentary published in the June 1782 issue of the Journal Helvétique clearly establishes that this separately printed edition, known as the "large type" issue, is indeed the very first (F. Michaux, "L'Édition originale de la première partie des 'Confessions' de J.-J. Rousseau" in Revue d'Histoire littéraire de la France, 35th Year, No. 2 (1928), pp. 250-253).
Contemporary half calf bindings, flat spines tooled with gilt fillets and decorated...

First edition.
Contemporary speckled brown calf binding. Decorated spine with raised bands. Red morocco title label. 2 corners slightly bumped. Handsome copy.
3 treatises present in this collection all concern a reflection on the honest man. The fourth is entitled Le commerce du monde. If Faret had already treated the qualities of the honest man, it is the chevalier de Méré, through his three treatises published after his death, who would be its true theorist, founding his principles on a philosophy of life in society, combining the qualities of the heart with taste, culture and wit.
It was regarding honesty that Méré and Pascal formed a long friendship. Pascal would...

New edition.

Contemporary full marbled brown sheep binding. Decorated spine with raised bands. Tan morocco title and volume labels. Lacks at head of volume I. Tailcap of volume II split off. Upper joint of volume III opened at head. Upper corners very bumped and worn bare.
Collection of moral letters on contemporary manners. According to the author's preface which criticizes epistolary novels, these letters would be real and addressed to a certain Count.

First French edition, rare. Translated by Etienne François de Sennevert. A fine printing on handsome laid paper.
Contemporary full polished mottled calf, smooth spines richly decorated with gilt tooling in compartments and rolls, black morocco lettering-pieces, tan morocco volume labels, triple gilt fillet borders on the boards. Some surface abrasions to the boards, joints, and borders. Slight brown waterstain in the upper margin of the preliminary leaves of volume 1. A small loss at the foot of volume 4. Headcap of volume 2 lightly worn. Loss at the lower joint of volume 1. Despite a few minor defects, a very handsome copy.

First edition. The second part is regarded as rare, since Prussia ordered the manuscript to be seized and the copies burned, although in fact the second part is found in many sets.
Contemporary full mottled brown calf binding. Spine with raised bands richly gilt. Red morocco lettering-piece. Lower headcap partly torn. Abrasion to the lower cover with loss along the joint. Two corners rubbed. A brown stain in the upper margin of p. 49, about 2 cm. Loss in the margin at the corner of p. 144, not affecting the text. Marbled endpaper with a cut along the outer margin. Some gatherings browned. A good copy.

Complete first edition in six volumes, illustrated with decorative headpieces. 

Contemporary bindings in full marbled brown calf, spines with six raised bands decorated with red morocco title and volume labels, fleurons and double gilt frame fillets, triple fillets stamped in blind framing the boards, double gilt fillets on the leading edges, marbled endpapers and pastedowns, all edges marbled. Title pages in red and black. Headcaps worn, title labels of volumes 1, 3, 4 and 6 and volume labels of volumes 4, 5 and 6 missing, some lacks to the compartments, leather split at the joint of the first volume, joints of other volumes often slightly cracked at head or foot, boards and...

A new, corrected and enlarged collected edition of the Œuvres philosophiques of Julien Offray de La Mettrie, published in 1764 and more comprehensive than the first collected edition issued in Berlin in 1751. It includes in particular the Anti-Sénèque, ou Discours sur le bonheur and L'Art de jouir, both absent from that earlier collection.

The two volumes are joined, in a strictly uniform contemporary binding, by L'Homme plus que machine, a work long attributed to La Mettrie but now assigned to Élie Luzac. The three volumes thus form a contemporary collected set.

First edition. Dorbon no. 4403: "rare, full of singular documents." Caillet [III, 9922] 
Contemporary full brown calf binding. Spine gilt-tooled in compartments. Brown morocco title-piece. Loss at head of spine. Corners worn and somewhat clumsily restored. A filled loss on lower cover. Scattered foxing. A waterstain at one corner of the final leaves. Several gatherings protruding. 

Rare first edition.
Contemporary full tree calf bindings. Smooth spines decorated with two gilt tools and two grotesque panels. Red morocco title labels. Black wax volume labels, heavily rubbed and faded. Head- and tailcaps and the upper and lower joints and corners very discreetly restored. A scratch on one board. A handsome, clean copy.

First French edition translated by Arnaud de la Chapelle. Title page in red and black.

Later 19th-century full red morocco binding with straight grain (Russia leather) signed by Thouvenin at tail. Spine with raised bands decorated with compartments framed by gilt fillets. Title and date in gilt. Gilt fillets framing the boards with trefoils in the corners. Inner gilt fillet. All edges gilt. Spine slightly faded. Rubbing to headcaps, joints and corners. Upper joint narrowly split at tail for 3 cm. One tear on p. 274, another on p. 302, both in the middle of the page. Despite some defects, a handsome copy.

    
20th-century engraved bookplate of E. Crawshaw...

First edition, rare.
Half blond sheep bindings. Smooth spines decorated in the grotesque style. Red morocco title labels and beige morocco volume labels. Library labels at foot. Two small wormholes along the lower joint of volume I. A split with loss at the lower joint of volume II. A good, decorative copy.

New edition, following the first collected edition also published in Amsterdam in 1775 and produced by d'Holbach.
Contemporary full blonde calf bindings. Smooth spines richly decorated with gilt compartments and fleurons, as well as red morocco title labels and green volume labels with red morocco inlay. Fine gilt decorative board-edges framing the boards. Gilt roulettes on the leading edges and headcaps. All edges marbled.
Headcaps slightly rubbed and some minor wormholes. Each volume shows dampstaining to outer margin. Quite good copy, of handsome appearance.
The first volume contains the author's most famous text: L'Antiquité dévoilée, the second the Recherches...

Rare first edition, comprising 9 plates, including 3 folding plates.
Contemporary full mottled brown calf bindings. Spines with raised bands, gilt decoration. Title and volume labels in brown morocco. Blue mottled edges. A handsome copy.

First French edition, after the original German published in 1732 under the title: Psychologia empirica.

Contemporary full brown sheep binding. Decorated spine with raised bands. Red morocco title-label. One lack at head, similar lacks at foot. Joints cracked at head and foot. Corners slightly bumped. Title page with browning to margins.

Wolf sought to redefine philosophy as a whole based on a stable principle of knowledge founded on deduction and the model of geometry; a rationalist, he was a disciple of Leibniz from whom he borrowed many concepts. And yet for the first time in the history of philosophy, Wolf conferred an autonomy on...

New edition.

Half sheep bindings in bottle green, smooth spines decorated with quadruple fillets and gilt typographical motifs, two upper headcaps slightly worn, marbled paper boards, marbled endpapers and pastedowns, some corners very slightly bumped, contemporary bindings signed by Flore.

Some minor foxing of no consequence. Handsome set.