BODIN, Jean.

Inquire · Offered by Peter Harrington

Les six livres de la republique. Second authorized edition, revised by the author, of this masterpiece of political philosophy, a crowning work of the French Renaissance and a key theoretical step in the transition from feudalism to nationalism.This copy was formerly owned by Michel-Étienne Turgot (1690-1751), father of the renowned economist (1727-1781), and may well have been in the family library during the latter's formative years. The covers are stamped with the Turgot family crest. A 1578 manuscript inscription on the verso of the final leaf records this copy as originally owned by one Balthazar de Quiney, a soldier in the service of Charles III, Duke of Lorraine (1543-1608) and then stationed at "Lamotte Lorraine" - presumably La Mothe-en-Bassigny, a prominent Lorraine citadel. In the 20th century it passed into the seminal collection of 16th-century literature amassed by Jean Bourdel (1890-1971), whose book token is loosely inserted. Responding to the French Wars of Religion, Bodin outlines "in effect, the first modern attempt to create a complete system of political science" (PMM). Central in this system was the concept of the sovereign state, by which Bodin attempted to subvert the power of feudal lords in favour of the central monarchy. The République was originally published in 1576 and was swiftly followed by a second impression and a separate, unauthorized Geneva edition in 1577. The present edition, the third overall, contains numerous small additions and corre

Found via Rare Books Intel, a search across rare-book dealers, auction houses and marketplaces worldwide.