L'Homme conduit par la raison

Paris: Chez Pillot, 1770 First and only edition of a rare book. Searching OCLC, RLIN and COPAC, we could locate only copies at McGill, Koninklijke Bibliotheek, the Bibliotheque Nationale, and the National Library of Australia. The last of these is seriously defective. No catalogue listing assigns an author, and not in Barbier. Contemporary stiff vellum with gilt leather spine label. Twelvemo. Woodcut title-page vignette, woodcut headbands, tail-pieces and initial letters. A few spots on covers, including faint circular stain, minor foxing. A very good copy. This is a curious work, embodying enlightenment thought, and though the text is short in the use of proper names, the author is clearly familiar with Rousseau (the only philosopher mentioned in the body of the text, p. 189), Voltaire, and probably Locke and Hume. The work is dedicated to D***, and there are a number of quotes from the poetry of "D***" at the beginnings of chapters, along with quotes from Voltaire, Racine, Fenelon, Malesherbes, Corneille, Boileau, and Thomas. We have been unable to guess the identity of "D****," though he is the author of verse of a philosophic bent. The title-page bears his quotation: "Elle est du genre humain le trésor le plus beau;/On ne craint point d'ecueil en suivant son flambeau."