THE CONSTITUTION OF ENGLAND; OR, AN ACCOUNT OF THE ENGLISH GOVERNMENT; IN WHICH IT IS COMPARED BOTH WITH THE REPUBLICAN FORM OF GOVERNMENT, AND THE OTHER MONARCHIES IN EUROPE
1816 · London
by De Lolme, Jean Louis
London, 1816. [4],xxviii,556pp. plus frontispiece portrait. Contemporary red morocco, tooled extensively in blind and gilt, a.e.g. Corners worn, extremities lightly worn. Bookplates on front pastedown. Minor foxing. About very good. "A new edition, with supplemental notes, and a preface biographical and critical." A later edition of this important work on the British Constitution and system of government written by Swiss-born Jean Louis De Lolme, first published in French in 1771 and later appearing in English in 1775. De Lolme became involved in local politics in Geneva, which sparked a lifelong interest in politics and governance. "De Lolme now began a lifetime's study of the British government. His interest in this subject was stimulated, he later claimed, by the peculiarity of the system and by his earlier political experiences, which had given him 'insight into the first real principles of governments'. His views were heavily influenced by Montesquieu, whose writing he had encountered in Geneva. In 1769 he began work on a major study of the British constitution that aimed to show the benefits of a balanced constitution, and claimed to have identified in British government the practical means by which freedom could be reconciled with political stability. He praised the jury system in particular, and admired the way in which monarchical authority had been effectively and beneficially limited by the settlement of 1688" - DNB. His work was very successful and went through many editions. (Inventory #: WRCAM44960)