SAINT-SIMON (Claude-Henri de). L'Industrie, or Political, mo - Lot 227

SAINT-SIMON (Claude-Henri de). L'Industrie, or Political, moral and philosophical discussions. Dans l'intérêt de tous les hommes livrés à des travaux utiles et indépendans [sic]. Paris, Au Bureau de l'administration [then: Verdière], 1817-1818. 5 parts in 2 volumes in-8, tan calf, double gilt fillet and cold-stamped roulette, gilt supra-libris Henri Fournel mars 1833 on first board, spine decorated, black parts, marbled edges (Devillers). First edition. Henri de Saint-Simon (1760-1825) owed his fame to his incisive analysis of the nascent industrial society and his zeal in demanding that "industrialists" (by which he meant all useful workers) seize power, if necessary by force. Society would thus be organized meritocratically through industrial institutions; scientific power would replace older forms of spiritual and military authority, while the infinitely more productive and efficient "industrial system" would supplant earlier forms of "parliamentary system" (cat. BnF, Utopie, p. 217). A precious copy by Henri Fournel (1799-1876), an early Saint-Simonian, with his name stamped in gilt letters on the boards: the Saint-Simonian commitment of this mining engineer, to whom we owe the first Saint-Simonian bibliography, was an essential component of his life, says Maitron. It is presented in a period binding, executed by Devillers and signed with his label at the Paris address, n°55 quai des Augustins. The copy includes volumes I and II (224, 136, 104 and 346 pp.) and the first quire of volume IV (4 and 160 pp.). Not including volume III, by Auguste Comte, which appeared as in-4 quires. Missing the final table leaf of Part IV, which is here handwritten. Light staining at the head of the third part. Some rubbing and traces of wetness to binding.