Charles Louis de Secondat, Baron de la Brède et de Montesquieu, Persian Letters. London: Printed for J. Tonson: and sold by Thomas Combes ... and James Lacy ..., 1722. 2 vols.
Montesquieu was an important early figure of the Enlightenment; his Persian Letters offers epistolary exchanges between two Persians traveling through France, and includes critiques of western politics and society. This is the first English edition of the work.

Proposed Conservation Treatment:
Both volumes: Remove flyleaves, wash, deacidify and mend as needed. Remove remnants of rotted leather from both spines. Line spines of text blocks with linen and Japanese paper, to serve as hinges. Make new brown calf spines and attach boards to them. Attach text blocks to the rebacked covers, using the linen and paper attached to the spines of the textblocks. One cloth covered clamshell box for both volumes.

Adopt this book ($3,800)