NECKER’S ESSAY ON THE TRUE PRINCIPLES OF EXECUTIVE POWER, 1792

NECKER, Jacques. An Essay on the True Principles of Executive Power in Great States. London: G.G.J. and J. Robinson, 1792. Two volumes. Octavo, period-style half tan calf gilt, black morocco spine label, raised bands, marbled boards. $1500.

First edition in English, published in the same year as the French first edition.

Jacques Necker, one of the most successful French financiers of the 18th century and finance minister to Louis XVI, played a critical role in the events leading up to the French Revolution. His dismissal from the post of finance minister and subsequent exile led directly to the storming of the Bastille in 1789. The result was his triumphant reinstatement; he was hailed by the French people at every point along his return journey from Switzerland to Paris. His Essay on the True Principles is reflects his immense dissatisfaction with the various executive committees that controlled France in the months following the Revolution.

Text fresh and clean, an excellent copy.