Bücher der Reihe Deuxieme Periode (1800-1813)

This critical edition presents the work of Benjamin Constant, author, religious historian and political thinker, in all its uniqueness and diversity. It includes the author¿s voluminous correspondence. The Collected Works comprise two series, the first containing his works, the second his correspondence. Both series are arranged chronologically. Each volume includes chronological surveys, surveys, a bibliography and an index.

This volume contains (a) Constant's remarkable speeches to the Tribunal, published after all available sources, including the minutes of the sessions, with records of all his interventions and of a lost speech, (b) fragments of an uncompleted work »De la possibilité d'une constitution républicaine dans un grand pays«, edited on the basis of all the manuscripts, (c) a number of other texts from the same period, and (d) a partial copy of »Des circonstances actuelles« by Mme de Staël, which left its mark on the uncompleted work and is essential to an informed understanding of the initial foundations of Constant's political thinking. This rich collection of texts presented from an unwonted perspective is rounded off, as always, by a chronology, bibliographic resources, and an index of proper names.