Rousseau jean jacques

1767 · 274 — London: T. Becket and P. A. de Hondt 1767. Mixed Editions. Riviere Fine Full Polished Calf. VERY GOOD to NEAR FINE. A beautifully preserved curated collection of Rousseau's works bound in uniform fine polished full calf by the prestigious Riviere and Son.<br /> <br /> Condition: VG to NF. Exterior and binding - FINE. All volumes collated and complete including half-titles plates as called for and publisher ads.<br /> <br /> BOOK INFO<br /> <br /> A 17-volume set put together from various editions published between 1767 - 1819. Mixed editions. Text in English. Duodecimos 12mo 6 5/8" x 4 1/4". Collated and complete. Uniformly bound by Riviere circa late 19th to early 20th century in exceptionally preserved fine binding: polished full calf with double fillet gilt paneling with corner fleurons; spine with gilt-lettered black and burgundy morocco spine labels and compartments richly tooled and ruled in gilt; all cover edges with gilt rolls; gilt dentelles; marbled endpapers; all page edges stained yellow. Verso of FFEP in each volume stamped "Bound by Riviere and Son". A gorgeous set!<br /> <br /> Emilius and Sophia Or A New System of Education four volumes published by T. Becket and P.A. de Hondt in London in 1767. First published in English in 1762-1763 this is an early edition. Six copperplate engravings. Ads at back of volume IV.<br /> <br /> Miscellaneous Works five volumes published by T. Becket and P.A. de Hondt in London in 1767. First collected edition of Rousseau's essays letters and miscellaneous works in English. Includes famous essays such as "Dissertation on the Effects of Cultivating the Arts and Sciences" "A Dissertation on the Origin and Foundation of the Inequality of Mankind" and letters to contemporaries and vocal critics such as Voltaire. Ads at back of volume IV.<br /> <br /> Eloisa: Or a Series of Original Letters four volumes published by T. Becket and P.A. de Hondt in London in 1769. Fourth edition in English. Frontispiece in each volume. Ads at back of volume IV.<br /> <br /> Confessions of J.J. Rousseau with Reveries of a Solitary Walker added four volumes published by Longman Hurst Rees Orme and Browne in 1819. New edition. Ads at back of volume II.<br /> <br /> CONDITION REPORT<br /> <br /> Exterior and binding: FINE. Firmly bound tight pages sharp corners. Minimal rubbing or wear. Leather is colorful bright and supple. A few of the volumes' exteriors could be considered Near Fine if being picky due to some shallow scratches on the boards. Exceptional overall for a 19th century full calf fine binding. <br /> <br /> Interior: VG to VG Offsetting from gilt scroll turn-ins in each volume per usual. Pages with varying degrees of toning by set with the Confessions of Rousseau more heavily toned to light browning due to the poor paper quality used by the printer. Foxing varies from light and scattered to more moderate and frequent the latter in Confessions in particular. Confessions of Rousseau has multiple areas of marginal insect nibbling. A few pages of insect nibble or marginal wear in the other titles' volumes. Professionally closed tear on page 105 of volume 3 in Miscellaneous Works. Other usual signs of handling over the centuries - some stray marks thumbing small ink blots or infrequent smudge or crease. No writing ex libris marks or bookplates.<br /> <br /> All in all a beautiful uniformly bound collection of mixed edition sets of Rousseau's most important works with bindings in a superior state of preservation.<br /> <br /> ABOUT THE AUTHOR & HIS INFLUENCE<br /> <br /> Jean-Jacques Rousseau 1712 – 1778 was a Genevan philosopher philosophe writer and composer. His political philosophy influenced the progress of the Age of Enlightenment throughout Europe as well as aspects of the French Revolution and the development of modern political economic and educational thought.<br /> <br /> Rousseau's Discourse on Inequality which argues that private property is the source of inequality and The Social Contract which outlines the basis for a legitimate political order are cornerstones in modern political and social thought. Rousseau's sentimental novel Julie or the New Heloise 1761 was important to the development of preromanticism and romanticism in fiction. His Émile or On Education 1762 is an educational treatise on the place of the individual in society. Rousseau's autobiographical writings—the posthumously published Confessions completed in 1770 which initiated the modern autobiography and the unfinished Reveries of the Solitary Walker composed 1776–1778—exemplified the late 18th-century "Age of Sensibility" and featured an increased focus on subjectivity and introspection that later characterized modern writing. T. Becket and P. A. de Hondt unknown