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  2026-07-09 11:00:00 2026-07-09 11:00:00 America/New_York Potter & Potter Auctions Potter & Potter Auctions : Summer Fine Books & Manuscripts https://auction.potterauctions.com/auctions/potter-potter/summer-fine-books-manuscripts-22825
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Lot 0

ROUSSEAU, Jean-Jacques (1712-1778). Du Contrat Social; ou Principes du Droit Politique. Amsterdam: Marc-Michel Rey, 1762.

Estimate: $400 - $600
Starting Bid
$200

Bid Increments

Price Bid Increment
$0 $5
$30 $10
$100 $25
$500 $50
$1,000 $100
$2,000 $200
$5,000 $500
$10,000 $1,000
$20,000 $2,000
$50,000 $5,000
$100,000 $10,000

ROUSSEAU, Jean-Jacques (1712-1778). Du Contrat Social; ou Principes du Droit Politique. Amsterdam: Marc-Michel Rey, 1762. 12mo. 216 pp. Contemporary full mottled calf, spine ruled and tooled in gilt, two brown gilt morocco lettering labels, marbled edges and endleaves. EARLY "COUNTERFEIT" EDITION, PUBLISHED IN THE SAME YEAR AS THE SCARCE FIRST EDITION. 

Condition

Some wear, scuffing, soiling to binding, joints starting, spine chipped at head- and tailcap, contemporary ownership signature on title-page, text a bit toned, with occasional foxing, thumbsoiling, creasing. Still, very good. 

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This title is one of the most important philosophical books of the eighteenth-century, and was the intellectual basis of the French Revolution, stating that government depends upon the mandate of the people. There were several "counterfeit" editions published in the same year as the first; all of these pirated editions are quite rare.