First Edition of De Lolme's "Constitution of England"
Constitution de L'Angleterre.
Amsterdam: E. van Harrevelt, 1771.
First edition. Octavo (8 1/4 x 5 inches; 210 x 130 mm). [4], 308, [2]. Bound without half-title. With engraved vignette on title-page and engraved head-and-tail pieces and initials. We could find no other copies at auction in the past 50 years.
Nineteenth-century quarter green cloth over marbled paper boards. Spine with black paper spine label, lettered in gilt. With extensive ink annotations and underlining in a contemporary hand, particularly at rear free endpapers, occasional pencil annotations in a later hand. Title-page and dedication leaf trimmed a bit short at top edge and fore edge. Some rubbing and chipping to head and tail of spine. Previous owner's bookplate to front pastedown. Overall a very good copy.
"Jean Louis De Lolme’s The Constitution of England, which first appeared in French in 1771, was a major contribution to eighteenth-century constitutional theory and enjoyed wide currency in and beyond the eras of the American and French Revolutions. Its authority and judgment were invoked in parliamentary debate and in partisan political polemic. John Adams, the American revolutionary leader, constitutional advocate, and later president, praised the work as 'the best defence of the political balance of three powers that ever was written.' Even De Lolme’s contemporary critics were forced to acknowledge 'a work which has been honored with the public approbation and which certainly possesses great merit.'" (David Lieberman, Liberty Fund).
"Jean-Louis de Lolme (1740-1806) was the author of The Constitution of England, or, An Account of the English Government (1771-75). A lawyer from Geneva who found refuge in Britain, Lolme was a great admirer of the British constitution; and, inspired by Montesquieu’s brief account, he set out to describe its workings in detail. Published initially in French in 1771, his tome appeared in an expanded form in English four years later. There were further revisions; and, with each new edition, the book increased in size until 1784. Lolme’s fine-grained account of Britain’s constitutional balance, his exposition of the principle of representation and the advantages attendant on it, and his spirited defense of unity in the executive, legislative bicameralism, judicial independence, the freedom of the press, and the right to resistance earned him admiration throughout Europe and in America where the framers of the various state constitutions and those of the U.S. Constitution profited from his expertise." (Constitution Center).
HBS 69735.
$4,500.
Price: $4,500.00
Item #69735