123 - [UNITED STATES - FRANKLIN, Benjamin, and LA ROCHEFOUCAULD, Louis-Alexandre (trans.)]. Constitutions of the Thirteen United States of America.

[UNITED STATES - FRANKLIN, Benjamin, and LA ROCHEFOUCAULD, Louis-Alexandre (trans.)]. Constitutions of the Thirteen United States of America. A rare second French edition, the most complete, containing the first edition of the U.S. Constitution of 1787. A fine copy on laid paper, in a pastiche binding adorned with the Great Seal of the United States. Paris, n.p., 1792. 2 in-8 volumes, each bound in full marbled brown calfskin, spine with faux raised bands highlighted by gilt garlands, compartments adorned with the Great Seal of the United States in gold embossing, title labels and brown morocco inserts, red-speckled edges, original half-leather covers preserved. Binding signed by Joseph Lemale. 1 ff.n.ch. (title page) and 324 pp.; 317 pp. Bindings very slightly rubbed at the corners and edges, a small crack (1 cm) on the top cover of Volume I, minimal foxing. A rare original French edition of the 1787 Constitution of the United States of America (the Philadelphia Federal Text), as well as the first draft of the Bill of Rights and the second French edition of the individual charters of the thirteen original states. Published in the midst of the revolutionary upheaval, this collection stems from the close intellectual partnership between Benjamin Franklin (1706–1790) and Duke Louis-Alexandre de La Rochefoucauld d’Enville (1743–1792), who undertook the translation of the texts to spread the ideals of freedom from across the Atlantic. A true political bridge between the two nations, the work became a major source of inspiration for French lawmakers eager to rebuild their own institutions on the American republican model. In a tragic twist of history, this edition was published in the very year that the Duke of La Rochefoucauld, deemed too moderate, was stoned to death by a mob in Gisors. A fine copy on laid paper with generous margins, in a pastiche binding signed by Joseph Lemale.