‎(BARBEU-DUBOURG, J.)‎
‎Petit Code de la Raison Humaine, ou Exposition succinte de ce que dicte à tous les hommes, Pour éclairer leur conduite & assurer leur bonheur. Par M.B.D.‎

‎(Paris), 1789. (iii)-xxii (misnumbered xxiv), 112 (misnumbered 114) pp. 12mo. Modern half calf, marbled boards, spine gilt in compartments, gilt lettering. Echeverria & Wilkie 789/7; INED 218; no edition in Kress; no edition in Goldsmiths; no edition in Einaudi; not in Sabin. Final edition of this little collection of 102 maxims and reflections forming a perfect abridged statement of the philosophy of the Enlightenment.'Both signatures a and b have had the first leaf of each cancelled; no located copy still has them present' (Echeverria & Wilkie). After the half-title and title the numbering of the prelims is: vii-ix, verso of ix an unnumbered blank page, ix again, verso numbered xii, xv-xxiv. This is a copy with a5r numbered ix (see Echeverria & Wilkie). The dedication is 'A Monsieur B.F. (i.e. Benjamin Franklin). The first edition was published in 1774 and a second one was printed in 1782 in Paris on the press of Benjamin Franklin. Livingston (19) writes: 'It was again printed in 1789, a close copy, typographically, of Franklin's Passy press edition, and this is the only edition recorded in the Catalogue of the Bibliothèque Nationale (1914).' According to Quérard (I, 175), this edition 'est plus complète que les autres', and he adds 'ce petit traité renferme beaucoup d'idées sur le commerce maritime.' 'Éloge de la famille et du mariage, du travail, de la tolérance. Défense du droit de propriété et de l'impôt foncier. Idées agrariennes sur la population et l'agriculture' (INED). On page 87 these lines on the USA: 'La Pensylvanie est le premier pays policé de l'univers où la tolérance réciproque de tous les cultes religieux ait été garantie par une loi authentique.'The pages 89-90 are omitted in the numbering, page (91)-end contains notes to the various maxims. Jacques Barbeu-Dubourg (1709-1779) was doctor, professor, journalist and businessman: he was Diderot's doctor untill Barbeu died, and he created various commercial companies with the aim to help the American revolutionaries. - Small tear in outer blank margin of the title-page and a few unobtrusive spots, verso title-page and recto last page with strengthened inner margin. ‎

Reference : 25843

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