Les Elemens De La Politique Selon Les Principes De La Nature. Fortin De La Hoguette, Philippe.

First edition of the final major work by the soldier and philosopher. Fortin's work of political theory yokes together the public and the private, relating the development of government to the control of four essential vices: murder, theft, false witness, and adultery. The book mirrors contemporary attitudes towards marriage and sexuality, and it has been read, as by Leslie Tuttle, as reflecting the social imperialism imposed on France's new North American colonies in the 1660s (p.79). As a soldier, Philippe Fortin de la Hoguette (1585-1668) fought in the French Wars of Religion and was present at the siege of La Rochelle in 1627. As a philosopher, he wrote several works of Catholic fideism, corresponded extensively with the Dupuy brothers, and smuggled many of Francis Bacon's manuscripts out of England after his death in 1626. Leslie Tuttle, Conceiving the Old Regime: Pronatalism and the Politics of Reproduction in Early Modern France, 2010. Octavo (166 x 113 mm) Contemporary vellum, spine lettered in manuscript, edges sprinkled in red and green. Woodcut vignette to title page, headpiece and initial. Lightly toned and with some natural creasing, front pastedown free, rear pastedown starting to free, minor browning to endpapers and content margins, occasional small mark: a very good copy in an attractive contemporary binding.