Rechte des Menschen. 3 parts. - [FIRST GERMAN TRANSLATION OF PAINE'S "THE RIGHTS OF MAN"]
by PAINE, THOMAS
- Used
- Hardcover
- Condition
- See description
- Seller
-
Copenhagen, Denmark
Payment Methods Accepted
About This Item
1793. Kopenhagen, Christ. Gottl. Proft, 1793. 8vo. Uniformly bound in two contemporary full calf bindings with five raised bands and gilt lettering to spine. Small paper-label to top of spines. A few stains to boards, spine miscoloured. Internally nice and clean. XVIII, 253, (1) pp.; XXXII, 199, (3), 138 pp. Second improved edition of the first German translation of Paine's seminal "The Rights of Man": "the textbook of radical thought and the clearest of all expositions of the basic principles of democracy" (PMM). The work was written as a response to Burke's "Reflections on the Revolution in France" from 1790, in which Burke voices his distrust of the "Perfectibilitarians" and of the mere destructive criticism of institutions and concludes that the French revolutionaries are not fighting for real liberty and that they have no idea what it would take for them to "form themselves into a mass which has a true political personality". Reacting to Burke's excpression of the horror and dismay that the liberal-minded now felt for the French revolutionaries, Paine defends the French Revolution against Burke's attacked. He famously lays down the principles of fundamental human rights that must stand no matter what, no matter what is necessary to obtain them, and he argues that popular political revolution is permissible when a government does not safeguard its people, their natural rights, and their national interests. Paine himself condered the work "one of the most useful and benevolent books ever offered to mankind". It was indeed hugely popular, hugely controversial, and hugely influential. Although suppressed on the day of publication, the modified version was quickly printed and reprinted. It was very widely circulated, with copies being read aloud in inns and coffee houses. Although the Revolution controversy had spawned more than 300 pamphlets, Pain's "Rights of Man" was the first seriously to damage Burke's case and to restore credit to the French both in Britain and America. The publication of Rights of Man caused a furor in England; Thomas Paine was tried in absentia, and convicted for seditious libel against the Crown, but was unavailable for hanging, having departed England for Africa.
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Details
- Bookseller
- Herman H. J. Lynge & Son (DK)
- Bookseller's Inventory #
- 61180
- Title
- Rechte des Menschen. 3 parts. - [FIRST GERMAN TRANSLATION OF PAINE'S "THE RIGHTS OF MAN"]
- Author
- PAINE, THOMAS
- Book Condition
- Used
- Binding
- Hardcover
- Date Published
- 1793
Terms of Sale
Herman H. J. Lynge & Son
30 day return guarantee, with full refund including original shipping costs for up to 30 days after delivery if an item arrives misdescribed or damaged.
About the Seller
Herman H. J. Lynge & Son
Biblio member since 2017
Copenhagen
About Herman H. J. Lynge & Son
Herman H. J. Lynge & Son A/S was founded 1821 in Copenhagen, and has been a member of the Danish Antiquarian Booksellers Association (ABF) and International League of Antiquarian Booksellers (ILAB-LILA) since their beginning.
Glossary
Some terminology that may be used in this description includes:
- Calf
- Calf or calf hide is a common form of leather binding. Calf binding is naturally a light brown but there are ways to treat the...
- Gilt
- The decorative application of gold or gold coloring to a portion of a book on the spine, edges of the text block, or an inlay in...
- Spine
- The outer portion of a book which covers the actual binding. The spine usually faces outward when a book is placed on a shelf....
- Raised Band(s)
- Raised bands refer to the ridges that protrude slightly from the spine on leather bound books. The bands are created in the...