Mably - Observations sur l’histoire de France - 1791

MABLY (Gabriel Bonnot de) - Observations on the History of France - A Khell, 1791.

4 volumes in-12 (approximately 17 x 10 cm). Complete of the 4 volumes (Volume I to Volume IV). Half-title sheets, explicit title pages (« Observations on the History of France, Volume One »), warnings and tables of contents. Full dark brown morocco with cedar-like marbling or blonde calfskin of the period. Spine with raised bands richly decorated with gold-ornamented compartments of floral motifs and urns, red morocco title pieces and dark green/black slices for the volume numbers (titled « HISTOIRE / DE / FRANCE » and numbered « TOM. I » to « IV »). Red edges.

A copy in very good overall condition. The period bindings show a warm, elegant patina, with light signs of handling on the heads and corners. The interior is clean, printed on fine laid paper of the period, still fresh.

Abbé Gabriel Bonnot de Mably (1709–1785), philosopher, historian and brother of Condillac, is one of the most radical intellectual figures of the Enlightenment. His Observations on the History of France (first published in 1765) constitutes a major political indictment of royal absolutism, analyzing the origins of the French monarchy through the lens of the freedom of the ancient Franks and the progressive encroachments of feudal and royal power. This work deeply fed the political debates of the late Ancien Régime and the thinkers of the French Revolution.

Abbé Mably advocated a return to republican simplicity and Spartan virtues, often denouncing the extravagant luxury of his time—a savory paradox when his works were richly bound in morocco and gold-tooled to sit on the shelves of great collectors!