François-Vincent Toussaint - Les Moeurs - 1748

TOUSSAINT (François-Vincent)

The Customs

S.l., s.n, 1748.

1 volume in-12 (16.5 x 9.5 cm), marbled calf (period binding), smooth decorated spine, title piece in morocco, red edges, handwritten inscription on the title, [32]-547 pages (complete). Worn corners, tear on the tail cap, upper hinge split. Overall, acceptable condition nonetheless.

Original illustrated edition with a frontispiece, title vignettes, and chapter head vignettes.
There were at least 15 editions by 1748, and this first edition is not easy to find.

The anonymous edition was attributed to Diderot (the author with whom Toussaint had worked) and was quickly condemned. The book quickly gained success, although Toussaint blamed himself for writing it for the rest of his life. It is a work based on a morality and natural justice, which rejects the necessity of revealed religion, as natural morality is independent of the social laws brought about by religion. The author's thoughts on man and the natural law to which all society should conform are not far from Diderot's spirit, but Toussaint is not Diderot and will not seek to delve into and demonstrate his ideas, remaining a moderate. Nevertheless, and perhaps for this very reason, the work caused a great impact in 1748, and while its style is neither violent nor vehement, it remains a defender of theses typical of the French Enlightenment and opposed to contemporary society; the book was even seen as potentially justifying regicide.

Good specimen.