Les Revolutions d'Italie. Augmentées d'une Introduction par M. Marc Dufraisse by Quinet, Edgar, 1803-1875 - 1855

Bruxelles, Vanderauwera, 1855. Hard Cover. lxxii, 428 p. 'Aux Exiles Italiens Cet ouvrage est dédié comme une expiation personnelle de meurtre de l'Italie par des mains françaises. Paris, 15 October 1851.' The first part of the book covers the millennium from 524 to 1550 during which period Italy slips from being the heart of the Roman Empire through stages of recovery. The Ciompi rising is a social revolution, Florentine banking a financial one; Dante, Boccaccio, Michelangelo revolutionized the arts and spiritual life. When Quinet gets to the Reformation, to the French Revolution and Napoleon, he approaches contemporary issues. For Quinet, a republican and opponent of Napoleon III, was writing not just about revolutions in the past, but looking forward to a political upheaval in the near future. Bound in half leather. Stock#OB384. Vg.