Charles-François Dupuis - Abrégé de l'origine de tous les cultes + Planches - 1821

A superb collection of these major works by Charles-François Dupuis (1742–1809), a philosopher, linguist, and member of the Institute, proposed a radical theory of the astronomical origin of religions.

Published in 1821 by Étienne Ledoux and Agasse, this single-volume in-folio or quarto edition, often sought after by bibliophiles, gathers the essential elements of Dupuis's thesis: ancient cults, mythologies, and divine figures are nothing but personifications of celestial phenomena, notably the solar cycle, constellations, and equinoxes.

The summary outlines the foundations of this theory in dense, rationalist prose, while the plates — astronomical engravings, celestial maps, comparative tables — illustrate the correspondences between Egyptian, Greek, Indian, Persian, and Christian myths, in an encyclopedic and demythologizing approach.

Dupuis advocates a naturalist and universal view of religion, inherited from the Enlightenment, where the sacred is reduced to the cosmic order and celestial imagination.

Rare book accompanied by its beautiful atlas.

Charles-François Dupuis - Summary of the Origin of All Cults / Plates of the Origin of All Cults - 1821 - Etienne Ledoux & Agasse
542 Pages.

Good condition of the bindings, books in their original brown half-leather from the period, showing signs of wear, cracked spines, mostly missing headbands, small cracks on the back, wear on the corners, marbled edges, smooth decorated spine, gilded titles.

Good interior condition, scattered foxing, works enriched with fine engravings outside the text, including a frontispiece on the Atlas, texts in two columns, marbled endpapers.

Delivery service guaranteed within a few days.