[Main work Jean-Jacques Rousseau] Du contract social; ou Principes du droit politique.

Par J.J. Rousseau, citoyen de Geneve. Amsterdam, Marc Michel Rey, 1762, (2),IV,202 p., contemporary halfleather, gilt spine with morocco letterpiece, small 8vo.

Library stamp and old owner's name to title page; endpapers browned and binding with minimal defects. Early pirated edition, issued in the year of the first edition. "The Contrat social remains Rousseau's greatest work. With no particular learning, no gift for logic, and a total lack of practical experience, he yet contrived to write a work of compelling eloquence. [...] In the Age of Reason he advocated the greater force of intuition: against artificial refinement, he urged a return to the natural state. [...] His fundamental thesis that government depends absolutely on the mandate of the people, and his genuine creative insight into a number of political and economic problems, give his work an indisputable cogency. It had the most profound influence on the political thinking of the generation following its publication. It was, after all, the first great Emotional plea for the equality of all men in the state" (PMM 207).