REMARKS CONCERNING THE GOVERNMENT AND THE LAWS OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: IN FOUR LETTERS, ADDRESSED TO MR. ADAMS...FROM THE FRENCH OF THE ABBE DE MABLY: WITH NOTES BY THE TRANSLATOR

London: J. Debrett, 1784. [4],280pp. Antique-style half calf and marbled boards, spine gilt, leather label. One leaf with horizontal closed tear, minor foxing to last handful of leaves. Very good. First English edition. Mably's work consists of four letters written to John Adams, then the American Minister to Holland, on the government, laws, and political divisions in the United States. The French took great interest in the form that the American government would take after the Revolution, publishing the constitutions of the thirteen states in 1783, and pondering the question of a strong central government or a loose confederation. "Mably comments on the American approach to government as reflected in the constitutions of the thirteen states, and, more specifically, in those of Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, and Georgia...he offers advice on a national constitution, urging a loose federation rather than a strong central government and warning against excessive democracy" - Cohen. Another Dublin edition appeared in 1785, in French, predating the present translated edition, though Echeverria & Wilkie deem this a false imprint due to typographical inconsistencies in the dedication. SABIN 42925. HOWES M5 (ref). COHEN 2763. ECHEVERRIA & WILKIE 784/71