Madam de Stael Holstein Letters on the Works of Rousseau 1st Signed Ramsay 1789

Description: Letters on the works and character of J.J. Rousseau - 1st English Edition in 1789 - her 1st major work. - RareJames Ramsay personal copy of this important 1st edition helped influence his forward thinking. (Rare Signature)Published by G. G. and J. Robinson (London) Approx 4.50" x 7.25" - 139 pages Anne Louise Germaine de Staël-Holstein (French: [an lwiz ʒɛʁmɛn də stal ɔlstajn]; née Necker; 22 April 1766 – 14 July 1817), commonly known as Madame de Staël (/də ˈstɑːl/ də STAHL, French: [madam də stal]), was a French woman of letters and political theorist, the daughter of banker and French finance minister Jacques Necker. She was a voice of moderation in the French Revolution and the Napoleonic era up to the French Restoration. She was present at the Estates General of 1789 and at the 1789 Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen. For many years she lived as an exile – firstly during the Reign of Terror and later due to personal persecution by Napoleon.In 1788, de Staël published Letters on the works and character of J.J. Rousseau. In this panegyric, written initially for a limited number of friends (in which she considered his housekeeper Thérèse Levasseur as unfaithful), she demonstrated evident talent, but little critical discernment. De Staël was at this time enthusiastic about the mixture of Rousseau's ideas about love and Montesquieu's on politics. Following the 1791 French legislative election, and after the French Constitution of 1791 was announced in the National Assembly, she resigned from a political career and decided not to stand for re-election. "Fine arts and letters will occupy my leisure."In her view Napoleon had begun to resemble Machiavelli; while for Napoleon, Voltaire, J.J. Rousseau and their followers were the cause of the French Revolution. This view was cemented when Jacques Necker published his "Last Views on Politics and Finance" and his daughter, her "De la littérature considérée dans ses rapports avec les institutions sociales". It was her first philosophical treatment of the Europe question: it dealt with such factors as nationality, history, and social institutions. Napoleon started a campaign against her latest publication. For ten years de Staël was not allowed to come within 40 leagues (almost 200 km) of Paris. She accused Napoleon of "persecuting a woman and her children". On 23 October she left for Germany "out of pride", in the hope of gaining support and to be able to return home as soon as possible. Comte's disciple Frederic Harrison wrote about de Staël that her novels "precede the works of Walter Scott, Byron, Mary Shelley, and partly those of Chateaubriand, their historical importance is great in the development of modern Romanticism, of the romance of the heart, the delight in nature, and in the arts, antiquities, and history of Europe." Recent studies by historians, including feminists, have been assessing the specifically feminine dimension in de Staël's contributions both as an activist-theorist and as a writer about the tumultuous events of her time. She has been called a precursor of feminismThe Reverend James Ramsay (25 July 1733 – July 1789) was a Anglican priest and leading abolitionist in Great Britain. Ramsay became part of the group of influential politicians, philanthropists and churchmen based at Teston, and was persuaded by Lady Middleton, the wife of Charles Middleton, and others to publish his account of the horrors of the slave trade. They met at Barham Court. This was the first time that the British public had read an anti-slavery work by a mainstream Anglican writer who had witnessed the suffering of the slaves on the West-Indian plantations.He met with William Pitt the Younger, the prime minister, on several occasions and with William Wilberforce in 1783 and played a significant part in the establishment of the campaign against the slave trade. It was Ramsay's meeting with Thomas Clarkson in 1786 that encouraged the latter in his tireless efforts to obtain first-hand evidence of the trade, and indirectly led to the formation of the Society for the Abolition of the Slave Trade the following year. Hugely influential in the growing anti-slavery movement, Ramsay did not live to see the fruition of the campaign. He died in July 1789 and was buried at Teston. James Watt has argued: "His enemies acknowledged his exemplary qualities, while deploring the intemperate language of his books; and the abolition of the British slave trade in 1807 probably owed more to James Ramsay's personal integrity, ethical arguments, and constructive proposals than to any other influence. (See Wikipedia for additional information)Note: Thomas Jefferson used to meet with de Staël at her many Salon teas and they kept up a 30 year correspondence. Jefferson had both Ramsay and de Stael's works in his initial inventory at Monticello.*****This volume is in very good condition for its age (1789). The volume has been rebound at some point. This volume looks well preserved since 1789. There is some minor occasional spotting throughout the book but most pages have none. Most of the issues are in the 1st few pages. The book is very tight. Please see pictures for more information and detail. Please feel free to contact me with any questions you might have. I will be glad to take additional pictures. I tried to describe the book through words and pictures the best I can but if you are not 100% satisfied with the purchase, please know you can return the book for full refund. Boxed and packaged VERY carefully! Will ship within 1 business day of receiving payment. Thank you for looking!

Price: 2450 USD

Location: Okatie, South Carolina

End Time: 2024-11-17T15:15:28.000Z

Shipping Cost: 6.13 USD