‎Wazem, Pierre‎
‎Genève‎

‎Histoire de Geneve. Rectifiée & augmentée par d'amples Notes. Avec les Actes et autres Pieces servant de Preuves á cette Histoire. 2 vols.‎

‎Geneve, Fabri & Barrillot, 1730. 4to. 2 fine cont. full mottled calf, raised bands, title-and tomelabels gilt. Back slightly rubbed, corners and top of spines neathly repaired. Inner hinges reinforced. With 2 htitles and titles printed in red a. black with engraved vignettes. (4),XVI,556,(14),518 pp. A small marginal brownspot in lower left corner on the last ab. 50 lvs. in vol. 1. Having 10 engreved plates (seals and coins), 2 maps, one full-page and one large and folded (ca 58x80 cm): Carte du Lac de Geneve par Antoine Chopy, and 2 large folded town views (24x7o cm. and 24x68 cm). Textillustrations.‎

‎Histoire de la ville et de l'estat de Genève, depuis les premiers siècles de la fondation de la ville jusqu'à présent‎

‎Utrecht, François Halma, 1685. 12mo. In contemporary full calf with four raised bands and richly gilt spine. Light wear to extremities, some of gilting to spine worn off. Lower left corner of the large folded cityscape of Geneva torn off but laid in, othewise internally fine. (22), 435, (9), 413-522, (17) pp + frontispiece, 2 fold-out Geneva cityscapes and 4 plates. ‎

‎Third edition, revised and corrected, of this extensive history of Geneva. ‎

‎Le Lit La Table. Dessins de Gérard Vulliamy. Geneve-Paris, Éditions des trois Collines, (1946).‎

‎Orig. wrappers., uncut. No 110 of 1000 ""sur vergé crèmes"", a total of 1220 copies.‎

‎Oeuvres Completes de J.J. Rousseau. Nouvelle Édition, Conformé à celle de Geneve, 1782, et augmentée de quelques nouvelles Pieces. 33 Vols. (Vols 28-33= Supplement).‎

‎Lyon, 1796. Small 8vo. Bound in 33 contemp. hcalf, richly gilt backs. Slightly rubbed. Internally fine. 9 engraved plates, incl. portrait, 1 folded table and music in the text.‎

‎A Mr. D'Alembert...sur son Article Genève dans le VIIme. Volume de l'Encyclopédie et particulierement, sur le projet d'établir un Théatre de Comédie en cette Ville. - [THE PLACE OF ENTERTAINMENT IN SOCIETY]‎

‎Amsterdam, M.M.Rey, 1758. 8vo. Beautiful contemporary full mottled calf with five raised bands and gilt red leather title-label to richly gilt spine. All edges Minor loss to lower capital, but apart from that an absolutely beautiful copy, internally as well as externally. Very nice, clan and fresh. Printed on good paper, with good margins. Engraved title-vignette. XVIII, 264, (8) pp.‎

‎The rare first edition of this important work, which inaugurated one of the most significant intellectual debates of the 18th century.The letter is Rousseau's answer to the article on the city of Geneva, which his friend d'Alembert had written for the French ""Encyclopédie"". In the article, d'Alembert had suggested that the citizens of Geneva establish a theatre which - so d'Alembert - would lead to a refinement of the mores and ways of the Genevans, not to mention adding a bit of sparkle to a city which he described as dreary and sad. The response by Rousseau opened up what was one of the most important intellectual polemics of the 18th century.Rousseau, a citizen of Geneva by birth, uses the article by d'Alembert as a springboard for a reflection on the place of culture in society. He relates the institution of the theatre to the question of political morality and attempts to define boundaries between the morally innocuous and corruptive forms of entertainment. The letter is permeated by a pronounced Platonism. The arguments which Rousseau advances against the theatre closely recall those advanced by Plato in the Republic against the poets. As Plato, Rousseau focuses his attention on the artificial nature of the theatrical spectacle, which leads the mind astray, away from the concerns of an industrious and fulfilled life. For anybody with an interest in the work and life of Rousseau, the ""Lettre à d'Alembert"" is an invaluable document. Not only does it connect Rousseau's earlier writings - the Discourse on the Arts and Sciences (1750) and the Discourse on the Origin and Basis of Inequality among Men (1754) - to his later major work"" it also offers an insight into the differences of opinion that would lead Rousseau to break with the circle around the encyclopaedists. The present edition is unknown to Dufour and Tchmerzine, but recent research has determined that this is the actual first printing (see for instance: Azers, ""Histoire de l'Impression et la publication de la ""Lettre à d'Alembert"""", Sénelier).‎