The Ruins, or, A survey of the Revolutions of Empires.
London: Printed for J. Johnson, 1792. xv, 400 pp. Illus. with 1 frontispiece & 2 folded maps after the French edition, engr. by T. Conder. 8vo. Later patterned cloth with morocco spine label. First English Language edition. Split along top half of front joint, chips to head and heel of spine, occasional foxing, still very good. Item #41541
Translated from the French of "Les ruines, ou, Méditation sur les révolutions des empires," by Thomas Conder.
Volney's work which was first published in 1791 argued, by analyzing the arc of ancient civilizations, that the primacy of equality before the law was necessary to prevent the deterioration of religious and political institutions into tyranny.The work had a profound influence on Thomas Jefferson, who translated it beginning in 1796 when Volney visited him at Monticello. A new translation of the work had just been published and both Jefferson and Volney were not happy with it, nor this earlier first edition in English. The project went on hold once Jefferson became president, and was not published until 1802 in France and 1828 in America.
Price: $750.00