THE PLACE OF ENTERTAINMENT IN SOCIETY

ROUSSEAU, J.J.

A Mr. D'Alembert...sur son Article Genève dans le VIIme. Volume de l'Encyclopédie et particulierement, sur le projet d'établir un Théatre de Comédie en cette Ville.

Amsterdam, M.M.Rey, 1758. 8vo. Beautiful contemporary full mottled calf with five raised bands and gilt red leather title-label to richly gilt spine. All edges Minor loss to lower capital, but apart from that an absolutely beautiful copy, internally as well as externally. Very nice, clan and fresh. Printed on good paper, with good margins. Engraved title-vignette. XVIII, 264, (8) pp.

The rare first edition of this important work, which inaugurated one of the most significant intellectual debates of the 18th century.

The letter is Rousseau's answer to the article on the city of Geneva, which his friend d'Alembert had written for the French "Encyclopédie". In the article, d'Alembert had suggested that the citizens of Geneva establish a theatre which - so d'Alembert - would lead to a refinement of the mores and ways of the Genevans, not to mention adding a bit of sparkle to a city which he described as dreary and sad. The response by Rousseau opened up what was one of the most important intellectual polemics of the 18th century.

Rousseau, a citizen of Geneva by birth, uses the article by d'Alembert as a springboard for a reflection on the place of culture in society. He relates the institution of the theatre to the question of political morality and attempts to define boundaries between the morally innocuous and corruptive forms of entertainment.

The letter is permeated by a pronounced Platonism. The arguments which Rousseau advances against the theatre closely recall those advanced by Plato in the Republic against the poets. As Plato, Rousseau focuses his attention on the artificial nature of the theatrical spectacle, which leads the mind astray, away from the concerns of an industrious and fulfilled life.

For anybody with an interest in the work and life of Rousseau, the "Lettre à d'Alembert" is an invaluable document. Not only does it connect Rousseau's earlier writings - the Discourse on the Arts and Sciences (1750) and the Discourse on the Origin and Basis of Inequality among Men (1754) - to his later major work; it also offers an insight into the differences of opinion that would lead Rousseau to break with the circle around the encyclopaedists.

The present edition is unknown to Dufour and Tchmerzine, but recent research has determined that this is the actual first printing (see for instance: Azers, "Histoire de l'Impression et la publication de la "Lettre à d'Alembert"", Sénelier).

Order-nr.: 7874