Mirabeau, Comte De

Des Lettres De Cachet Et Des Prisons D'Etat (2 Volumes in 1)

      No Publisher, 1782. Good Ex-Library. 8vo. xiv, 324pp, 204pp, two volumes in one. Ex-library with stamp to reverse of title, and a couple of oval stamps to text. Rebound in half-calf and marbled paper over boards, raised bands, leather title label to spine. Internally some light browning, first gathering of volume 1 has a light stain to top third of page, second volume has a light stain to head of pages throughout. "Honoré Gabriel Riqueti, Comte de Mirabeau (9 March 1749-2 April 1791) was a French writer, popular orator and statesman...Later during his confinement, he wrote Des Lettres de Cachet et des prisons d'état, published after his liberation (1782). It exhibits an accurate knowledge of French constitutional history skillfully applied in an attempt to show that the system of lettres de cachet was not only philosophically unjust but also constitutionally illegal. It shows, though in a rather diffuse and declamatory form, the application of wide historical knowledge, keen philosophical perception, and genuine eloquence to a practical purpose which was the great characteristic of Mirabeau, both as a political thinker and as a statesman" (Wikipedia)