PÉTION, Jérôme. - Lot 27

PÉTION, Jérôme. Works. Paris: Garnery, Year I [II] of the Republic [1793]. — 4 volumes, in-8, 196 x 119: vij, 399 pp.; (2 ff.), 435 pp.; (2 ff.), 436 pp.; (2 ff.), 415, iv pp. Speckled tan sheepskin, decorated ribbed spine, blue edges (contemporary binding). First collected edition of the political and economic writings of Jérôme Pétion (1756–1794). A lawyer by training, Jérôme Pétion was a major figure of the French Revolution: deputy of the Third Estate to the Estates-General (1789), first president of the National Convention (1792), and mayor of Paris (1791, suspended on July 6, 1792). He also made his mark on history as one of the presidents of the Society of Friends of the Blacks, founded on February 19, 1788, by Jacques-Pierre Brissot, Étienne Clavière, and Abbé Grégoire. This association advocated for equality between whites and Blacks, the immediate ban on the slave trade, and the gradual abolition of slavery. Its members sought to reconcile two objectives: maintaining the French colonial economy while preparing slaves for freedom through education, which was deemed necessary prior to their emancipation. Among its successive presidents (who did not serve consecutive terms) were, in addition to Pétion, Jacques Pierre Brissot, Étienne Clavière, and Condorcet. Volume III of this edition contains the famous “Discourse on the Slave Trade,” first published in 1790, and the “Discourse on the Unrest in Saint-Domingue.” Two headbands missing; normal wear and tear. Foxing spots. Provenance: Signature of Henricy Falkman Junior on the endpapers.