BALLANCHE Pierre-Simon. Essais de Palingénésie Sociale. Paris, Jules Didot Ainé, 1827-1829; 2 vol. in-8 of 278 pp; 135-406 pp, slightly later bindings in glazed blond half calf, spines ribbed and decorated with gilt and cold fillets, red and blue parts, entirely untrimmed. Very rare first edition. "Perhaps the most original monument, the most unusual in French letters" (Laprade, Ballanche, sa vie et ses écrits). The author sees the nineteenth century as a period of rehabilitation towards a new order after the chaos of the revolution. Only the first two parts, Prolégomènes and Orphée, were published, while a note from the publisher on the back of the false title announced five volumes; moreover, only a very small number of copies of the work "not being intended for the public" were printed. The volumes passed through the library of Auguste Ménard de Marsainvilliers (note in pencil by the auction expert Christian Galantaris) and the bookshop of Pierre Berès (Ballanche wrote in pencil in his hand). A very fine copy with no foxing. Caillet I, 669; missed by Vicaire and Escoffier - Cat. Bibliothèque du baron Auguste Ménard de Marsainvilliers, 17 March 1993, no. 15.