![ROUSSEAU, Jean Jacques (1712-1778). [Du contract social ou;] Principes du droit politique. Amsterdam: Marc Michel Rey, 1762. 8° (203 x 122mm). Half-title (Du contract social;), title with engraved allegorical vignette of Liberty by Borly after Bolomey, last 2 leaves cancelled (see below). (Some, mainly light, dust-soiling and toning of paper, more pronounced to preliminaries.) Contemporary calf-backed speckled boards, red edges (rubbed, particularly along spine, spine chipped). Provenance: S.S. Witte (Lützow, 1780; signature).](https://www.christies.com/img/LotImages/2013/CSK/2013_CSK_09702_0111_000(rousseau_jean_jacques_du_contract_social_ou_principes_du_droit_politiq064313).jpg?w=1)
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ROUSSEAU, Jean Jacques (1712-1778). [Du contract social ou;] Principes du droit politique. Amsterdam: Marc Michel Rey, 1762. 8° (203 x 122mm). Half-title (Du contract social;), title with engraved allegorical vignette of Liberty by Borly after Bolomey, last 2 leaves cancelled (see below). (Some, mainly light, dust-soiling and toning of paper, more pronounced to preliminaries.) Contemporary calf-backed speckled boards, red edges (rubbed, particularly along spine, spine chipped). Provenance: S.S. Witte (Lützow, 1780; signature).
FIRST EDITION, third state, with Dufour's type 'B' vignette on title. The third state is the outcome of changes requested by Rousseau after printing had begun. In response to his complaint that the title-page was too crowded, Rey moved the first part of the title to a half-title (including a semi-colon) and changed the engraved vignette. More importantly, the last four pages were cancelled to eliminate a long and strongly worded passage on marriage, which Rousseau feared would give the authorities a pretext for suppressing the entire work. A 'crucial document of egalitarian government' which presented 'his fundamental thesis that government depends absolutely on the mandate of the people .... It had the most profound influence on the political thinking of the generation following its publication' (PMM). While never officially condemned by the French authorities, the Contrat social was actively suppressed. An import ban in France resulted in 700 copies being held at Rouen and then returned to Amsterdam. Brunet VIII, 527; Dufour 133; PMM 207.
FIRST EDITION, third state, with Dufour's type 'B' vignette on title. The third state is the outcome of changes requested by Rousseau after printing had begun. In response to his complaint that the title-page was too crowded, Rey moved the first part of the title to a half-title (including a semi-colon) and changed the engraved vignette. More importantly, the last four pages were cancelled to eliminate a long and strongly worded passage on marriage, which Rousseau feared would give the authorities a pretext for suppressing the entire work. A 'crucial document of egalitarian government' which presented 'his fundamental thesis that government depends absolutely on the mandate of the people .... It had the most profound influence on the political thinking of the generation following its publication' (PMM). While never officially condemned by the French authorities, the Contrat social was actively suppressed. An import ban in France resulted in 700 copies being held at Rouen and then returned to Amsterdam. Brunet VIII, 527; Dufour 133; PMM 207.