Les Six Livres de la Republique

Jean Bodin

Paris: Jacques du Puys (Jacues), 1578

[A Foundational Work in the Development of Constitutional Government and Political Science] Folio, 32 x 22 cm.  Bound in contemporary calf. Joint worn. Some loss to head of spine. Woodcut printer's device on title. [44], 773 pages.  Interleaved with contemporary blanks.  Marginal staining throughout.  Pages tanned.  "Bodin first put clearly the argument ... that law is merely an expression of the sovereign will. He was, nevertheless, a firm believer in the sovereignty of the monarch. He approved, therefore, of absolute government, but he first recognized that there is a customary or natural law, and when the lawgiver's law becomes unjust, it ceases to be valid and can be resisted, i.e. the idea of constitutional law is here propounded." Printing in the Mind of Man 94, (Citing the first French edition of 1576.)  Bodin's primary contribution to political science is his definition of sovereignty, as apart from the concept of the State (or Republic). His work delves into the idea of tyrannicide (differentiating between a tyrant and a despot). He tracks a moderate path supporting both the idea of the absolute sovereignty and the concept of natural law, thus avoiding the extremes of Machiavelli.  (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy) French edition of The Six Books of the Commonwealth.  Brunet, I, 1025. Adams B2236.