‎NØRREGAARD, LAURITZ.‎
‎Natur- og Folkerettens første Grunde. - [FOUNDATIONAL WORK IN DANISH-NORWEGIAN LAW]‎

‎Kiøbenhavn, Gyldendal, 1776. 8vo. In contemporary half calf with five raised bands. Binding with wear, front board partly detached. Annotations to front end-papers. Previous owner's name to title-page. Internally with a few maginal annotations in both ink and pencil. Last 50 ff. with vague dampstain. (16), 358 pp.‎

Reference : 62998

‎Rare first edition of Nørregaard’s seminal work on natural law and the law of nations, one of the foundational works of late-Enlightenment jurisprudence in Denmark–Norway. The work represents the first fully systematic Danish treatment of “naturret” and “folkeret” in the spirit of the Continental tradition coming from Pufendorf and Wolff, here adapted to Danish legal education and practice. Published in the year of American independence, the book reflects the broader 18th-century European preoccupation with universal principles of right, sovereignty, and the juridical relations between states and individuals. It became immensely influential and Nørregaard reworked it in 1784 under the title “Natur-rettens første Grunde” – a work which used and studied well into the 19th century.‎