Essais sur la noblesse de France, contenans une dissertation sur son origine & abaissement

First edition. Title page in red and black.

Contemporary full glazed blonde calf binding. Smooth spine decorated with foliage, stamps and fillets. Red morocco title-label. Monogram B.P. at foot. Small lack at head. Joints cracked at foot for 1cm. Corners rubbed. Leaf 53 repeated, same for leaf 73.

Handsome copy.

An interesting reflection on the decline of the nobility, which Boulainvillier attributes to the centralization of power and the animosity of numerous kings against the powers of the nobility. Although favorable to commerce and the free circulation of goods, the author presents himself as a defender of the feudal regime. The work begins with a historical presentation of the nobility among the Romans and Greeks, then the Gauls, the Franks... Boulainvilliers' theories would be reproduced in the final part of Montesquieu's The Spirit of Laws; furthermore, Voltaire also drew from the reflections of the author whom he had met, in his struggle against centralized power. A dictionary at the end of the important terms of the work.