BOISSEL, François.

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Le Catéchisme du genre humain, First edition of this proposal for secular public education, a biting critique of the institutions and morals of the ancien régime, published at the beginning of the French Revolution. Francois Boissel (1728-1807) is regarded as one of the foremost exponents of socialism in pre-Revolutionary France, and a key precursor of 19th-century communism.The French revolutionaries, recognizing that their anticlerical stance would require a new, secular approach to public education, proposed a series of civic catechisms.Boissel (1728-1807), an active member of the Jacobin club, published this Catéchisme in April 1789, shortly before the final convening of the Estates-General in May. In August, he submitted it to the National Assembly. Building on the work of Helvétius's De l'Homme (1774), he outlines a vitriolic attack on religion, characterizing the French Catholic Church as a "mercenary, homicidal, and antisocial establishment". Equally, Boissel targets private property and marriage, arguing that each was intended to subjugate the working masses - both male and female.The Catéchisme is bound fourth in this volume, along with four early works on the Revolution:a) LAUNAY, Emmanuel Louis Henri Alexandre de, Comte d'Antraigues. Memoire sur les Etats-Generaux; leurs droits, et la maniere de les convoquer. [No place or publisher stated,] 1788. Pp. 279, [1]. Early edition, small wormhole to inner margin of leaves M7-S4. In the Memoire, Launay (1753-1812), a fri

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