(CONSTITUTION OF MAY 3). DELACROIX, Jacques-Vincent, Constitutions of the Principal States of Europe and the United States of America.

Constitutions of the Principal States of Europe and the United States of America.

By M. de La Croix, professor of public law at the Lycée. Vol. I–III (of 5). Paris, 1791. Published by Buisson. (22.5 x 14.5 cm), fol. [2], p. LVI, 539; fol. [2], p. 408; fol. [2], p. XII, 428, in a period half-leather binding. 
(No title page). A rare study, contemporary to the events it describes, of the political systems and constitutions of the most important European countries and the United States of America, authored by a French lawyer and professor of public law. The work was written during the pivotal period of the French Revolution and constitutional transformations in Europe. The author discusses, among other things, the political systems of Poland, Germany, Sweden, Venice, the Netherlands, Great Britain, Naples, Spain, and Switzerland, comparing them with the changes taking place in France and the United States. Of particular significance for Polish history is the presentation of the political system of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and the events related to its reforms. Noteworthy is the extensive discussion of Polish affairs in Volume 3, which includes, on pages 283–340, the French text of the Constitution of May 3, 1791, preceded by the author’s commentary; the French constitution is also discussed thereafter. Volume I, on the other hand, contains extensive material on the political system of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, the situation in Poland after the First Partition, and the Jewish question, as well as a critique of Gabriel Bonnot de Mably’s views on Poland. Volumes I–III of 5. The set is incomplete but valuable as a standalone source for the history of the political system of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, the history of constitutionalism, and European political thought at the end of the 18th century. Untrimmed piece; bookplates on the endpapers. Condition: nearly very good.