‎THORE, T.‎
‎La vérité sur la Parti Démocratique, par T. Thoré.‎

‎A Paris, Chez Desessart, Masgana, Rouanet, Ve. Barbe, A Bruxelles, Chez Géruzet, 1840. 47, (1) pp. 8vo. Modern half morocco, marbled boards, gilt lettering to spine. Stammhammer, i, 247; DBMOF, iii, p. 451; Drujon, p. 391. First edition. Théophile Thoré (1807-1869) was founder of the Vraie République, was elected in the department of the Seine together with Raspail and the future Napoléon III in 1848. Politically he belonged to the group of Cabet and in general to the more anti-state socialists. He was also an art critic and his articles, which appeared under the pen name of Burger, show that he was a fairly talented one. Baudelaire regarded them very highly. The present work led to his prosecution while the pamphlet was immediately seized and destroyed, hence its great rarity. Thoré belonged to a new generation of radical journalists and was thrown into prison for this work "The Truth about the Democratic Party", which was that it must serve "the interests of the most numerous and deserving classes, of the working people" (James H. Billington, Fire in the Minds of Men. Origins of the Revolutionary Faith, p. 262.)This particular copy has its original covers preserved, which gives the printing places, publishers and year of publication. The title-page does not mention any place, publisher or year. Copies exist with a cover stating 'deuxième édition': those copies are identical to the first edition, apart from the line 'deuxième édition' and the covers are pink whereas the covers of the present edition are blue. - Lightly spotted in places, with a tiny hole in lower blank inner margin of all pages including the covers. ‎

Reference : 24330

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