Le Bonheur.
17734276London i.e. Maastricht: Dufour & Roux 1773. Very Good/A philosophical inquiry into happiness which Helvetius worked on sporadically during the last 30 years of his life. The line of reasoning accords remarkably well with recent studies of human happiness by "positive psychologists" such as Martin Seligman: happiness is a mental state independent of the things and places we seek it. The unfinished poem was published in a small edition with a long biographical preface six months after Helvetius died. No less than ten printings surfaced all of them with surreptitious imprints within a year of the initial publication. These have been elegantly sorted and exhaustively described by David Smith in the bibliography cited. Our copy was the fourth printing. 23 cm; cxxv 1 110 pages. Title page printed in red and black. Half title present. Woodcut device on title page; typographic ornaments in text. Bound in original publisher's boards untrimmed and unsophisticated. Leaves sewn out of order in first signature but all pages present. Pervasive damp stain at lower right corner of text block. Reference: Smith Bibliography of the writings of Helvetius B.4. [Dufour & Roux] hardcover books
Rodger Friedman Rare Book Studio · États-Unis100,00 $US≈ 84,61 €
