Montesquieu. Causes la Grandeur des Romains

Montesquieu (Charles de Secondat, Baron de) Considerations sur les Causes de la Grandeur des Romains et de leur Decadence,first edition, first issue (with the first line of the 2nd note on p.129 reading "Leur cruauté fur si infesec", title in red & black and with woodcut ornament, very lightly browned, a few spots, contemporary mottled calf, spine in compartments and gilt, chipped label to spine, joints split, corners repaired, rubbed, [Brunet III, 1861; Tchemerzine VIII, 457a; PMM 197, note], 8vo, Amsterdam [Paris], Chez Jaques Desbordes, 1734.

***With this account of the rise and fall of Rome Montesquieu initiated the secular study of history, in which events are traced to natural causes without reference to a guiding providence or deity..