Oct 16, 2018 - Sale 2488

Sale 2488 - Lot 104

Price Realized: $ 4,000
?Final Price Realized includes Buyer’s Premium added to Hammer Price
Estimate: $ 2,000 - $ 3,000
[MONTESQUIEU, CHARLES DE SECONDAT, Baron de.] De l'Esprit des Loix. [8], xxiv, 522; [4], xvi, 564, [4] pages, including half-titles, and list of 47 errata on 2 leaves at end. 2 volumes. 4to, 253x193 mm, contemporary mottled sheep gilt, brittle with surface crackling, Volume 1 spine chipped at top and front joint starting at top; occasional toning or browning, few small wormholes through blank lower margins in both volumes and blank upper margins in first volume, wormtrails through last quarter of second volume causing some text loss, contemporary owner's signature on titles. Geneva: Barrillot, & Fils, [1748]

Additional Details

first edition of Montesquieu's classic comparative study of political institutions, "a great influence on the framing of the American Constitution, and . . . one of the key texts for the liberal tradition in Europe" (NOCLF). Tchemerzine (1977) IV, 929; Printing and the Mind of Man 197.