David Smith, Bibliography of the writings of Helvétius

In 1758, Claude Adrien Helvétius published De l'esprit and managed to have it condemned by the Pope, the Paris Parlement, and the Sorbonne. The book was burned, and Helvétius recanted several times.

Editions multiplied across Europe, publishers hiding behind false imprints and anonymous title pages. The bibliographic mess lasted centuries.

David Smith has spent a career cleaning up exactly this kind of chaos. In this definitive bibliography, publishers who had hidden in anonymity since the Ancien Régime are finally named, and every edition is identified and collated with the full scholarly apparatus: formula, signatures, catchwords, ornaments, plates, paper, locations, and notes on individual copies.

An indispensable reference for scholars, collectors, and dealers.