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Ader
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Joseph-Antoine-Nicolas Caritat, Marquis de CONDORCET (1741–1…
See original version (French)
20
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Joseph-Antoine-Nicolas Caritat, Marquis de CONDORCET (1741–1…
See original version (French)
Estimate €1,200 - €1,500
Voluntary lot
Description
Joseph-Antoine-Nicolas Caritat, Marquis de CONDORCET (1741–1794), mathematician, philosopher and economist; a member of the Legislative Assembly and a delegate to the Convention (representing Aisne), he was arrested as a Girondin and took his own life by poisoning. L.A., [July 1774, to Anne-Robert-Jacques Turgot]; 2½ pages, quarto.
An interesting letter to Turgot concerning Euler’s works on naval matters.
‘There are two works by Mr Euler, both of which would be of the greatest use to the advancement of naval science, but which, due to particular circumstances, we are unable to make use of.
One is a Complete Theory of the Manoeuvring and Construction of Ships, made accessible to those engaged in navigation. One can see what an elementary work by Mr Euler must be like, and what he himself calls a ‘Complete Theory’. Reading the work has not disappointed my expectations. I have never read anything simpler, clearer, more illuminating or better executed. Everything that, in the current state of naval science and analysis, can be applied to practice is brought together in a small 8° volume. This excellent work cannot fulfil, for France, the purpose for which it was composed: 1) because, having been printed in St Petersburg, the duties on the paper and the transport costs increase its price too much; secondly, because, having been written in French—a foreign language to the author—there are several passages rendered obscure by poor grammatical construction. It would therefore be useful to produce a French edition in which these flaws were corrected.
The second [*Neue Grundsatze der Artillerie…*] is a commentary on Robins’s book [Benjamin Robins, *New Principles of Gunnery*]. The commentary is an excellent work, though unfortunately printed in German. M. de Keralio has translated it, and would be only too happy to have this translation printed, which would make for a fairly small 4° volume. It would contain very thorough research on the theory of artillery; this is therefore yet another work whose publication would be useful.
Mr de Keralio would take charge of supervising the printing of his translation, and I would gladly undertake the corrections to be made to the book *La Théorie de la manoeuvre* &c. Thus it would cost the King nothing for the French publishers. But it seems to me that one cannot have Mr Euler’s works printed without his consent; or rather, that there are only two ways of proceeding without it: one is to have the works printed and present a copy of the edition to the author. The other is to send him a gratuity in the King’s name, and then one would propose to a bookseller that they print the two works, and I believe we would easily find someone willing to undertake this, because the elementary work, bearing the title ‘printed by order of the King’, would sell well enough to compensate for the slow sales of the other.
In this way, Monsieur Turgot would have the advantage of providing the French navy with two very fine works, and of offering the King an opportunity to bestow a token of his favour upon one of the most admired men in Europe, and most deserving of it; which is important at the beginning of a reign, when the King needs to establish his reputation amongst foreign nations.”
[On 23 August 1774, Turgot wrote to Louis XVI, partly repeating Condorcet’s own words, to propose that he order the printing of Euler’s two works.]
Works of Condorcet, ed. Arago and O’Connor, vol. I, p. 178. – Unpublished Correspondence between Condorcet and Turgot (1883), CXXXI.
See original version (French)
Auto-translation. Refer to original language for legal validity.
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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