HELVETIUS Claude-Adrien. On the Spirit. Paris,... Lot 22

HELVETIUS Claude-Adrien]. On the Spirit. Paris, Durand (Imprimerie Moreau, imprimeur de la Reine et de Mgr le Dauphin), 27 July 1758; in-4 of [2] ff. xxij p., 643[+1] p., 3 p., [1] f., contemporary binding in porphyry calf, gilt fillets on the boards, spine decorated with gilt designs. First edition, published without author's name but with a royal approval and privilege. However, the materialist theses contained in the work, immediately denounced by conservative circles, led to the suppression of the privilege, of certain fragments and the retraction of Helvetius. Diderot saw in this book "a furious blow to prejudice". It was nevertheless and even for this reason burned in public. Second edition, the first one put on the market on July 27, 1758. Only 4 copies of the first edition are known, given by Helvetius to friends before the book was censored by Malesherbes. At the end of the volume, a handwritten page reproducing "couplets" against Mr Tercier the censor, Helvetius' retraction as well as the King's decree of August 10, 1758 prescribing the suppression of the book. - A FINE COPY.