VOLNEY, Constantin François de Chassebœuf, comte de.

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The Ruins: or a Survey of the Revolutions of Empires. First edition in English of this influential work of the late Enlightenment, which became an important source for Romantic writers and a core text of radical literature. Inspired by Volney's travels in Egypt and Syria, the book presents a philosophical vision in which a spirit guides a traveller through history. Volney examines the causes of imperial decline, draws parallels between the French monarchy and the ruins of Palmyra, and envisages a republican future and a general assembly of nations.First published in French in 1791, the work was repeatedly reprinted in France, Britain, and the United States well into the 19th century. It is one of the books through which the monster learns language in Frankenstein: its translator, James Marshall, was a friend of Shelley's father, William Godwin, and cared for her during Godwin's visit to Ireland in 1800.Volney considered the translation too tame, and supervised a new version, begun by Thomas Jefferson and completed by Joel Barlow, published in Paris in 1802.

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