"L'Homme est né libre, & par-tout il est dans les fers." 

"The Contrat Social remains Rousseau's greatest work... His fundamental thesis that government depends absolutely on the mandate of the people, and his genuine creative insight into a number of political and economic problems, give his work an indisputable cogency. It had the most profound influence on the political thinking of the generation following its publication. It was, after all, the first great emotional plea for the equality of all men in the state: others had argued the same cause theoretically but had themselves tolerated a very different government... The Contrat Social came into its own as the bible of the revolutionaries in building their ideal state; it remains a crucial document of egalitarian government" (PMM 207). 

ROUSSEAU, J.J. Du Contrat Social, ou Principes du Droit Politique. Amsterdam: Marc Michel Rey, 1762. 12mo, contemporary three-quarter calf. $2000.

Early pirated edition, published the same year as the extraordinarily scarce first edition (only two known copies of the true first edition on the market in the last thirty years). Light wear to binding, occasional spotting to text; a handsome copy in contemporary binding. 

Interested in liberty? Please see John Locke and Winston Churchill.

What does Samuel Johnson think of Rousseau?