My Thoughts

Title Page, Copyright

My Thoughts  My Thoughts (Mes Pensées) Charles-Louis de Secondat, Baron of La Brède and of MONTESQUIEU translated, edited, and with an introduction by Henry C. Clark liberty fund indianapolis This book is published by Liberty Fund, Inc., a foundation established to encourage study of the ideal of a society of free and responsible individuals. The cuneiform inscription that serves as our logo and as the design motif for our endpapers is the earliest-known written appearance of the word “freedom” (amagi), or “liberty.” It is taken from a clay document written about 2300 b.c. in the Sumerian city-state of Lagash. Introduction, translation, editorial apparatus, and index © 2012 by Liberty Fund, Inc. Most of the annotations in the present volume are based on the endnotes in Montesquieu: Pensées, Le Spicilège, edited by Louis Desgraves, © Éditions Robert Laffont, S.A., Paris, 1991; used by permission. Image of Montesquieu from Œuvres de Montesquieu, nouv. ed. (Paris: J. J. Smits, 1796). Illustrations on pages 433 and 453 are reproduced by permission from Les Plus belles pages des manuscrits de Montesquieu confiés à la bibliothèque municipale de Bordeaux par Jacqueline de Chabannes, ed. Catherine Volpilhac-Auger with the collaboration of Hélène de Bellaigue (Fondation Jacqueline de Chabannes: William Blake and Company Press, 2005), pp. 17 (1) and 55 (13). © William Blake and Co. Press, BP. no. 4, F-33037 Bordeaux Cedex (France). All rights reserved Printed in the United States of America c 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 p 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Montesquieu, Charles de Secondat, baron de, 1689–1755. [Mes pensées. English] My thoughts / Charles-Louis de Secondat, Baron of la Brède and of Montesquieu; translated, edited and with an introduction by Henry C. Clark. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references (p. ) and index. isbn 978-0-86597-824-9 (hardcover: alk. paper) —isbn 978-0-86597-825-6 (pbk.: alk. paper) 1. Montesquieu, Charles de Secondat, baron de, 1689–1755—Notebooks, sketchbooks, etc. I. Clark, Henry C. II. Title. pq2011.a2c58 2012 848′.509—dc23 2012016646 Liberty Fund, Inc. 8335 Allison Pointe Trail, Suite 300 Indianapolis, Indiana 46250-1684 ...