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two old books sitting on top of a table next to each otherpair of antique leather bound books on a white backgroundan open book with a black and white image of a cross on ita book open to a page with a picture of a bird on ita book open to a page with a picture of a clock on it
Hôtel des Ventes de Metz - Martin et Associés

69 - HÉLVETIUS (Claude-Adrien) – *De l’Esprit*.
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Description
HÉLVETIUS (Claude-Adrien) – *De l’Esprit*. Amsterdam & Leipzig, published by Arkstée & Merkus, 1774; 12mo, VIII-384 + 392 pp., contemporary full marbled calf bindings, plain spines with decorative motifs, painted edges, title labels in red morocco. Both volumes. Complete set comprising both volumes. ‘This work caused quite a stir when it appeared, and brought about trouble and persecution for its author, and for Mr Texier, his censor. The more the philosophers praised it, the greater the efforts made by the theologians to have both the book and its author banned. [.]’ (in Peignot). ‘Claude-Adrien Helvétius won Voltaire’s affection from their very first meeting at Cirey during the summer of 1738. Rejecting the spiritualism of classical metaphysics, Helvétius set himself the task of constructing a science of man by transforming Locke’s empiricism into sensualist materialism. His book *De l’Esprit* develops the idea that the entire psyche results from the successive metamorphoses of simple sensory impressions. Thus, the capacity to feel becomes the source of thought and of all mental states, even the most complex. The radical nature of Helvétius’s work stems from the fact that he reduces everything not only to sensation, but to physical sensation.
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About the sale ONLINE AUCTION ON 26/06/2026: Books, engravings and old papers.
Auction location
Auction time 06/26/2026 at 8:00 PM
ID: 87707638
Pictures credits: Contact the Auction House
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