ROUSSEAU, Jean-Jacques [ 1712-1778] Du Contract Social, Ou, Principes Du Droit Politique.
Amsterdam. Chez Marc Michel Rey 1762. [ iv] 191.12mo. Rebound recently in an aged binding with new half calf, and recovered contemporary marbled paper, and reusing the original boards beneath. New endpapers using a retrieved laid paper. Repair to half title gutter margin.
Certainly a pirated edition, following close on the First Edition. We are indebted to John Robertshaw for his help with identification. He writes; “Leigh in his “Unsolved Problems in the Bibliography of Rousseau” states that there are at least 11 different pirate editions of this work with the date 1762. On p.52 he thinks this edition has a Dutch origin and he illustrates the title on p.54 – he notes the uneven date line [which this copy has].” This edition is Dufour 135 and can be precisely identified as such because it would seem to be the only pirated edition with 191 pages. The engraved vignette to the title page shows Justice standing, after a design by B.S. Bolomey. Lacking the section on civil marriage suppressed by Rousseau, and with the half title reading “ Du Contract Social.”
The title bears the ownership inscription of J. Millar Milheugh, with a bookplate retrieved from the original broken binding.
[Milheugh House was situated at High Blantyre, and for centuries was the home of the Millars of Millheugh. John Millar of Milheugh [1735-1800] was Professor of Law at the University of Glasgow, from 1761-1800. His son James was Professor of Mathematics from 1796-1832. We conjecture that John Millar, a lawyer, would be the likely original owner]. The work was extraordinarily popular from publication, leading to a plethora of pirated editions. It had a significant influence on revolutionary political theory. Printing and the Mind of Man #207.
