Des Lettres de cachet et des Prisons d'état. Ouvrage posthume, composé en 1778

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.

The work, written during and after Mirabeau’s arrest and imprisonment at Vincennes, is both a plea and an indictment against arbitrary justice and power. « J'entreprends de parler des emprisonnements arbitraires et des prisons d'état. » The volume contains numerous historical commentaries and substantial documentation on arbitrary authority and judicial practice. In the second part, Mirabeau deals more specifically with prison life and incarceration. He also reflects on the English constitution and argues that our own history condemns the use of lettres de cachet, just as it makes kings the sole representatives of the people. A rich source of material on prisons and imprisonment.