26 - CASTEL de SAINT-PIERRE, Ch.-Irénée, Abbot of.

CASTEL de SAINT-PIERRE, Ch.-Irénée, Abbot of. Draft Treaty to Establish Perpetual Peace Among Christian Sovereigns.... Utrecht: Antoine Schouten, 1717. Large 12mo (16 x 9.5 cm), XXXIV-(10)-170 pp., followed by pp. (26)-198-455-(4), 3 plates (of 4). Contemporary marbled tan sheepskin, ribbed spine, red title labels, gilt title, ornate panels, gilt roulette on the edges, speckled edges (binding slightly rubbed and darkened, water stains and foxing especially on the first and last quires, cap worn down, joints slightly weakened). Published by Antoine Schouten, this is Abbé Castel de Saint-Pierre’s famous work from the early 18th century outlining one of the first proposals for a European union. Included in the pagination is the second part, *The Interest of Each Sovereign in Particular in Signing a Treaty of Lasting Peace and Permanent Arbitration*. Part Two. Illustrated with three black copperplate engravings: Philip, Duke of Orléans, the Regent (to whom the work is dedicated), after Santerre in 1712; Henry IV; and the Duke of Sully, engraved by Scotin. In 1712, Saint-Pierre was a member of the French delegation at the Utrecht negotiations to end the War of the Spanish Succession. Inspired by this experience, by Hobbes, and by the Swiss-German confederal models—in contrast to the warmongering of Louis XIV— his plan for lasting peace was based on a supranational authority tasked with preventing conflicts and arbitrating disputes, thus foreshadowing the idea of a European Union, for which he proposed Utrecht as the seat. Only the BnF holds copies of this work in the CCFr. Modern handwritten bookplate on the upper endpaper. In French in the text, 137.