Description
"Alexis de TOCQUEVILLE - On Democracy in America A la librairie Charles Gosselin à Paris, 1835-1840 - Extremely rare copy of the first edition of Tocqueville's masterpiece in uniform contemporary bindings. Fine period bindings signed Antoine Bauzonnet at the tail of the first volume, in half tan calfskin, spine with 4 raised bands adorned with gilt fillets and double title-pieces and tomaisons. One of the rare copies with all volumes in first edition (1835 for the first two and 1840 for the following 2) without any mention of edition, corresponding to the first printing and in signed contemporary bindings (we have not referenced any copies in signed bindings with all volumes at the correct date). The bindings are strictly contemporary, and were probably commissioned by an early enthusiast (Beaupoil de Sainte-Aulaire) from Bauzonnet before the latter joined forces with Trautz. The next two volumes are based on exactly the same model, with only the marbling on the edges differing slightly. Rubbing to the spines and small paper tears to the boards. The interiors of the first two volumes are in very good condition, despite some browning of the pages and a few small but not serious brown spots. The paper of the last two volumes has remained quite white, with little foxing, but there are visible halos of wetness in the upper margins. A fine copy of this rare, sought-after set, complete with the beautiful period-colored map of the United States, very well preserved without tears, bound at the end of the first volume. Considered the bible of political liberalism, this text is the result of the author's work in America with Gustave de Beaumont in 1831, originally intended as an examination of the American prison system. It was through this work that Tocqueville became fascinated with the political system of the United States, and planned to publish it. It was the 5-year gap between the publication of the first two volumes and the next two that made the uniformly bound copies of the time almost impossible to find. ""The author with innovative audacity constructed an 'ideal-type' of democratic society within which he strove to imagine the intellectual and sensitive horizon, and the mores of the future homo democraticus"" (En français dans le texte, 253) It's incredible to note the author's clear-sightedness on certain subjects: the abolition of slavery and its consequences, or the advent of the Russian and American great powers. His work, so relevant at the time of its publication, is no less topical, a mark of the greatest masterpieces. ""rare, much sought-after"" (Clouzot, p. 264) ""very rare to find a copy in a perfectly homogeneous binding"" (Carteret, II, p. 506) In-8, 24pp + 367pp, 459pp, 5pp (2) + 333pp, 363pp."
181
"Alexis de TOCQUEVILLE - On Democracy in America A la librairie Charles Gosselin à Paris, 1835-1840 - Extremely rare copy of the first edition of Tocqueville's masterpiece in uniform contemporary bindings. Fine period bindings signed Antoine Bauzonnet at the tail of the first volume, in half tan calfskin, spine with 4 raised bands adorned with gilt fillets and double title-pieces and tomaisons. One of the rare copies with all volumes in first edition (1835 for the first two and 1840 for the following 2) without any mention of edition, corresponding to the first printing and in signed contemporary bindings (we have not referenced any copies in signed bindings with all volumes at the correct date). The bindings are strictly contemporary, and were probably commissioned by an early enthusiast (Beaupoil de Sainte-Aulaire) from Bauzonnet before the latter joined forces with Trautz. The next two volumes are based on exactly the same model, with only the marbling on the edges differing slightly. Rubbing to the spines and small paper tears to the boards. The interiors of the first two volumes are in very good condition, despite some browning of the pages and a few small but not serious brown spots. The paper of the last two volumes has remained quite white, with little foxing, but there are visible halos of wetness in the upper margins. A fine copy of this rare, sought-after set, complete with the beautiful period-colored map of the United States, very well preserved without tears, bound at the end of the first volume. Considered the bible of political liberalism, this text is the result of the author's work in America with Gustave de Beaumont in 1831, originally intended as an examination of the American prison system. It was through this work that Tocqueville became fascinated with the political system of the United States, and planned to publish it. It was the 5-year gap between the publication of the first two volumes and the next two that made the uniformly bound copies of the time almost impossible to find. ""The author with innovative audacity constructed an 'ideal-type' of democratic society within which he strove to imagine the intellectual and sensitive horizon, and the mores of the future homo democraticus"" (En français dans le texte, 253) It's incredible to note the author's clear-sightedness on certain subjects: the abolition of slavery and its consequences, or the advent of the Russian and American great powers. His work, so relevant at the time of its publication, is no less topical, a mark of the greatest masterpieces. ""rare, much sought-after"" (Clouzot, p. 264) ""very rare to find a copy in a perfectly homogeneous binding"" (Carteret, II, p. 506) In-8, 24pp + 367pp, 459pp, 5pp (2) + 333pp, 363pp."
