Synopses & Reviews
Synopsis
The Man and the Statesman, the first volume in Liberty Fund's six-volume series, may be considered the most complete edition of Bastiat's works published to date, in any country, and in any language. The main source for this translation is the seven-volume OEuvres completes de Frederic Bastiat, published in the 1850s and 1860s.
The present volume, most of which has never before been translated into English, includes Bastiat's complete correspondence: 207 letters Bastiat wrote between 1819, when he was only 18 years old, until just a few days before his untimely death in 1850 at the age of 49. For contemporary classical liberals, Bastiat's correspondence will provide a unique window into a long-forgotten world where opposition to war and colonialism went hand-in-hand with support for free trade and deregulation.
Frederic Bastiat (1801-1850) was one of the leading advocates of free markets and free trade in the mid-nineteenth century.
Jacques de Guenin is founder of the Cercle Frederic Bastiat. He is a graduate of the Ecole des Mines in Paris and holds a Master of Sciences from the University of California, Berkeley.
Dennis O'Keeffe is Professor of Social Science at the University of Buckingham, Buckingham, England, and is Senior Research Fellow in Education at the Institute of Economic Affairs, London.
David M. Hart has a Ph.D. in history from King's College, Cambridge, and is the Director of Liberty Fund's Online Library of Liberty.
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Synopsis
Liberty Fund's new six-volume The Collected Works of Frédéric Bastiat series, of which
The Man and the Statesman is the first volume, may be considered the most complete edition of Bastiat's works published to date, in any country, and in any language. The main source for this translation is the seven-volume
Oeuvres complètes de Frédéric Bastiat, published in the 1850s and 1860s.
The present volume, most of which has never before been translated into English, includes Bastiat's complete correspondence: 207 letters Bastiat wrote between 1819, when he was only 18 years old, until just a few days before his untimely death in 1850 at the age of 49. For contemporary classical liberals, Bastiat's correspondence will provide a unique window into a long-forgotten world where opposition to war and colonialism went hand-in-hand with support for free trade and deregulation. Bastiat's numerous letters to Richard Cobden, a Member of Parliament and best known today as the leader of the British Anti-Corn Law League, chronicle the profound effect the Anti-Corn League had on Bastiat. The League's success in mobilizing a popular movement in England to pressure the British government into abolishing the very protectionist "corn laws," in 1846, inspired Bastiat to emulate the League's success in France by starting his own free-trade movement.
The Man and the Statesman also includes articles and other writings on politics and current events that showcase Bastiat's talent as a theoretician, a pamphleteer, a journalist, and a deputy (Member of Parliament) of the nascent French Second Republic. Together with the correspondence, the writings in this volume fill an important gap in our understanding of the lesser-known Bastiat, who, in just a few short years, made a profound impact on French intellectual and political life in Paris.
Forthcoming titles in The Collected Works of Frédéric Bastiat series include:
"The Law," "The State," and Other Political Writings, 1843-1850
Economic Sophisms and "What is Seen and What is Not Seen"
Miscellaneous Works on Economics: From "Jacques-Bonhomme" to Le Journal des Économistes
Economic Harmonies
The Struggle Against Protectionism: The English and French Free-Trade Movements
Frédéric Bastiat (1801-1850) was born in the French port city of Bayonne and became one of the leading advocates of free markets and free trade in the mid-nineteenth century. A theorist of classical liberal political economy and an elected member of various French political bodies, he opposed both protectionism and the rise of socialist ideas.
Jacques de Guenin is president of the Cercle Frédéric Bastiat. He is a graduate of the École des Mines in Paris and holds a Master of Sciences from the University of California, Berkeley.
Jean-Claude Paul-Dejean is a historian from the University of Bordeaux and a Bastiat scholar.
Dennis O'Keeffe is Professor of Social Science at the University of Buckingham, Buckingham, England, and is Senior Research Fellow in Education at the Institute of Economic Affairs, London.
David M. Hart received a Ph.D. in history from King's College, Cambridge, and is the Director of Liberty Fund's Online Library of Liberty Project.
Table of Contents
General Editor’s Note, xi
Note on the Translation, xv
Note on the Editions of the OEuvres Complètes, xix
Acknowledgments, xxi
General Introduction, by Jacques de Guenin and
Jean-Claude Paul-Dejean, xxiii
Frédéric Bastiat Chronology, xxxvi
Map of France Showing Cities Mentioned by Bastiat, xxxviii
Map of Southwestern France, xxxix
Part 1: Correspondence
Introduction to the Correspondence, by David M. Hart, 3
Correspondence, 11
Part 2: Articles and Addresses
Section 1: Articles of Biographical Interest
1. Two Articles on the Basque Language, 305
2. Reflection on the Question of Dueling, 309
3. On the Bordeaux to Bayonne Railway Line, 312
4. Draft Preface for the Harmonies, 316
5. Anglomania, Anglophobia, 320
6. Proposition for the Creation of a School for Sons of
Sharecroppers, 334
Section 2: Political Manifestos
1. To the Electors of the Département of the Landes, 341
2. To the Electors of the District of Saint-Sever, 352
3. On Parliamentary Reform, 367
4. To the Electors of the Landes, 387
5. Letter to a Group of Supporters, 387
6. Political Manifestos of April 1849, 390
7. Letter on the Referendum for the Election of the
President of the Republic, 395
Section 3: Electoral Principles
1. Electoral Sophisms, 397
2. The Elections, 404
3. Fragment, 410
4. Letter to a Candidate, 410
5. Letter to Roger Dampierre, 412
Section 4: Articles on Politics
1. On a New Secondary School to Be Founded in Bayonne, 415
2. Freedom of Teaching, 419
3. Freedom of Trade, 421
4. The Parisian Press, 425
5. Petition from an Economist, 426
6. Article in La République française, 429
7. The Scramble for Office, 431
8. Impediments and Taxes, 432
9. Freedom, 433
10. Laissez-faire, 434
11. Under the Republic, 435
12. On Disarmament, 437
13. The Kings Must Disarm, 439
14. Articles in La République française on the Political
Situation, 440
15. To Citizens Lamartine and Ledru-Rollin, 444
16. Report Presented to the 1849 Session of the General
Council of the Landes, on the Question of
Common Land, 446
17. National Assembly, 451
18. Parliamentary Conflicts of Interest, 452
19. Parliamentary Reform, 457
20. Letter to an Ecclesiastic, 463
21. On Religion, 466
22. On the Separation of the Temporal and Spiritual
Domains, 468
23. The Three Pieces of Advice, 471
Glossaries
Glossary of Persons, 477
Glossary of Places, 509
Glossary of Subjects and Terms, 511
Appendix: List of the Correspondence by Recipient, 521
Bibliography of Primary Sources, 525
Index, 535