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Title Page of Pirated 1762 Edition of The Social Contract

Marc-Michel Rey (imprint, likely false) · 1762

The title page of an early unauthorized printing of Rousseau's political treatise The Social Contract, falsely bearing the imprint of Amsterdam printer Marc-Michel Rey.

This pirated title page shows how Rousseau's Social Contract spread through unauthorized printings during his lifetime.

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Title page of a book reading 'Du Contrat Social; ou Principes du Droit Politique, par J. J. Rousseau, Citoyen de Geneve', with Latin epigraph 'Foederis aequas Dicamus leges, Aeneid XI', a note about an edition with a letter to the author's only friend, imprint 'A Amsterdam, Chez Marc-Michel Rey', and date 'M DCC LXII'.
Title page of a pirated edition of Rousseau's Du Contrat Social, 1762, falsely imprinted as printed by Marc-Michel Rey, Amsterdam.

About this source

What it is

This is the title page of an edition of Rousseau's Du Contrat Social; ou Principes du Droit Politique, dated 1762. Although it carries the imprint of the Amsterdam printer Marc-Michel Rey, scholars believe it is actually a pirated copy, probably printed in Germany rather than by Rey himself.

Why it matters

Rousseau's Social Contract was one of the most important political works of the eighteenth century, and pirated editions like this one show how quickly and widely his ideas spread, even outside his control. Unauthorized printing was common at the time, and such copies reveal how booksellers profited from popular authors without permission.

Look closer

  • What does the imprint claim, and why might that claim be false?
  • Why would a printer want to disguise where a book was really made?
  • What does the existence of pirated editions tell you about how ideas traveled in the 1700s?

This book is part of the curated material that grounds the AI version of Jean-Jacques Rousseau on Humy.ai — when students ask about related events, the AI can quote it and cite it.

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Title page of Du Contrat Social ou Principes du Droit Politique by J. J. Rousseau, citoyen de Genève, printed at Amsterdam by Marc Michel Rey, MDCCLXII. Below the text is an engraved allegorical figure of a woman holding scales and a staff, flanked by trees, with Latin mottos above her. A handwritten inscription appears at top right.Book

Primary source

The Social Contract

Jean-Jacques Rousseau · 1762

Sepia-toned mezzotint print of a man in a tall fur hat and fur-collared coat, with his hand raised to his chest, set on a page of a bound book. Caption below reads Jean Jacques Rousseau, Vitam Impendere Vero, after Ramsay, published by David Martin.Painting

Primary source

Portrait of Jean Jacques Rousseau

David Martin · 1766

Open book spread showing the title page of Rousseau's Discours sur l'origine et les fondemens de l'inégalité parmi les hommes, Amsterdam, 1755, with red and black printed text and a engraved vignette of a seated woman. On the left page is an engraved plate of men in a landscape with a figure pointing.Book

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Discourse on Inequality

Jean-Jacques Rousseau · 1754 (published 1755)

Black and white line engraving of an oval portrait of a man with curled powdered hair, white cravat, and dark coat, seated and smiling slightly, set within an ornate framed border with laurel leaves, ribbons, a book inscribed with a title, and a lamp. Caption at bottom reads 'Publish'd 1st of April 1780 By Fielding & Walker Pater Noster Row'.Painting

Secondary source

Engraving of Rousseau after La Tour's Portrait

E. Ficquet, after Maurice Quentin de La Tour · 1780

Title page of the 1762 first edition of Emile, ou de l'éducation by J. J. Rousseau, citoyen de Genève. Red and black print; A La Haye, chez Jean Néaulme, Libraire; Tome Premier; MDCCLXII.Book

Primary source

Emile, or On Education

Jean-Jacques Rousseau · 1762

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