Date of Award
1-1-2024
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
M.A. in History
First Advisor
Marc H. Lerner
Second Advisor
Jeffrey R. Watt
Third Advisor
Theresa H. Levitt
Relational Format
dissertation/thesis
Abstract
When Baron de Montesquieu received a copy of his L’Esprit des lois, he was horrified by the total removal and reorganization of critical parts of his text, changed ideas, and an abnormal amount of printing errors in his work. While he saw these issues hindering the reception of his work, this thesis argues that the chaos of the text, in both its style and publication, made the book more popular instead of hindering it. Montesquieu, his editor, and his publisher constructed a new kind of text that was broad in its subject matter and ambiguous in its meaning where its readers continued to ask what its author “really” meant. Its authority was not commonly questioned except for a few quibbles but its differing interpretations were making it contested in its own way. Its diverse readers were not afraid to quote the author the Spirit of the Laws in relation to commerce, geographic factors, the separation of powers, historical records, or even the animating forces found or required in particular governing systems in order to appeal to the writer they saw as the “celebrated oracle” of their age.
Recommended Citation
Murray, Christian Jax, "Montesquieu: The Nature of L’Esprit des lois" (2024). Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 2848.
https://egrove.olemiss.edu/etd/2848