ROBESPIERRE (Maximilien). The Defender of the Constitution. - Lot 217

ROBESPIERRE (Maximilien). The Defender of the Constitution. By Maximilien Robespierre, deputy to the Constituent Assembly, periodical work offered by subscription. [Paris, Imprimerie Nicolas]. - Lettres de Maximilien Robespierre, membre de la Convention nationale de France à ses commettans. [Paris, De l'Imprimerie Patriotique et Républicaine, 1792-1793]. Together 2 works in 3 volumes in-8, long-grained red half-chagrin, smooth spine decorated with double gilt fillets, speckled edges (19th century binding). Complete collection of the 34 issues of Robespierre's 2 journals, in exceptional condition and extremely rare on the market. Le Défenseur de la Constitution consists of a prospectus and 12 issues published from May 17 to August 20, 1792: the 4-page prospectus is here in facsimile. Les Lettres à ses commettans, the sequel to Le Défenseur de la Constitution, comprises two series, the first in 12 issues (September 30 to December 31, 1792) and the second in 10 issues (January 4 to April 25, 1793). Printed by Léopold Nicolas, a "craftsman sincerely devoted to Robespierre" who perished on the scaffold with the Robespierrists on Thermidor 12, Year II, these two newspapers contain many historical details revealed by Robespierre himself. This is not a newspaper of information, but a sheet of opinion; the Incorruptible expresses himself. He addresses the public, as he did at the Constituante, beyond hostile deputies and friendly tribunes, as he still does at the Jacobins. [...] If Robespierre writes, it's because the war has changed the context; at the Jacobins, it has made his denunciations of the Brissotins difficult and in part out of place, inadmissible, inaudible. [...] He founded Le Défenseur de la Constitution to give himself complete freedom of speech and open up a new front. [...] The aim was to enlighten "good citizens" about the political and military situation, and to denounce their enemies: La Fayette, Brissot, Condorcet and all those close to them. [...] Faced with Brissot's Patriote français, Gorsas's Courrier des quatre-vingt-trois départements and Condorcet's Chronique de Paris, Robespierre now had his own periodical [...] his newspaper gave him a platform (Hervé Leuwers, Robespierre). Hole deleting a few letters pp. 281-282 in volume III, small split without missing at the head of a leaf. Some foxing. Handwritten table at end of Volume II. Deschiens, pp. 130-131. - Hatin, p. 227. - Tourneux, n°10765. - Complete works of Robespierre. Tome IV: Les Journaux. Le Défenseur de la Constitution. Complete and critical edition by Gustave Laurent, 1939.