A MILESTONE IN THE HISTORY OF NATURAL LAW

PUFENDORFF, BARON DE. (+) NOODT.

Les devoirs de l'homme, et du citoien, tels qu'ils lui sont prescrits par la loi naturelle. 2 parts. (+) Du pouvoir des souverains, et de la liberté de conscience.

Amsterdam, de Coup, 1722 - 1723 (+) Amsterdam, Pierre Humbert, 1714.

8vo. In contemporary full calf with five raised bands and richly gilt spine. Small paper-label pasted on to top of spine. Boards with scratches and leather on spine cracked. Ex-libris pasted on to pasted down front-end paper. Internally very fine and clean. LXI, (3), 597, XLVII, 407 pp. + 2 frontispieces.

Later French translation of Pufendorf's second main work, his seminal "On the Duty of Man and Citizen ", which became extremely influential during the Enlightenment of the 18th century and had a great impact on legal, moral, constitutional, and political thinking, not only in Europe, but also in America. It was perhaps more influential than the work which is usually considered Pufendorf's main work, namely his "De jure naturae et gentium" from 1672, which is longer and more elaborate, though, or perhaps exactly therefore, the present work must be said to be the one that came to exercise the greatest impact and came to spread Pufendorf's thought, not least his concept of "natural law" and his analysis of just war theory (which he gives in the present work), throughout Europe and America. It is the present work "that guaranteed him a place in university curricula for a century." (SEP).

Order-nr.: 61445