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an old book with writing on it sitting open on top of a table
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1 - Frédéric BASTIAT (1801–1850). Letter from the author, Paris,…
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Estimate €800 - €1,000
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Description
Frédéric BASTIAT (1801–1850). Letter from the author, Paris, 26 December 1847, [to Victor Considérant]; 3¼ pages, in-8. He intends to include Considérant’s letter in the next issue of *Libre Échange* [the issue of 2 January 1848 includes the letter, followed by a lengthy reply from Bastiat]; he regrets ‘that the Socialist School and the Economistic School cannot see eye to eye’, and that the controversy is exacerbating their differences. ‘We cannot accept Fourier’s cosmogony. But when you retreat behind this formula: ‘progressive and voluntary association’, political economy can no longer be your adversary’. He wonders how to understand the word ‘voluntary’, for ‘Will, in our view, implies freedom’. As for the principle of protection, is it not ‘the opposite of that of freedom’? If the fruits of joint efforts are not shared freely, if force or the law decrees that ‘your efforts shall be devoted to my satisfaction without voluntary reciprocity, we are dealing with the principle of slavery, which is that of protection. It is to decide that one man belongs to another […] It is always the effort of one applied against his will, for the satisfaction of another’. If the State had the means, it could ‘cover the losses of those who undertake ill-advised ventures’; but Bastiat sees this as ‘nothing more than a means of propping up poor work at the expense of good work. From a moral point of view, it is plunder; from an economic point of view, it is a loss’. And he concludes: ‘The true ground on which we would agree is that of Liberty, which, admittedly, does not exclude Association’…
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About the sale Letters and Autograph Manuscripts – Part I
Auction location
Auction time 10/13/2026 at 2:00 PM
Pictures credits: Contact the Auction House
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