TOCQUEVILLE (Alexis de). Democracy in America. Paris: Librairie de Charles Gosselin, 1835-1840. - 4 volumes in-8, 204 x 130: (2 ff.), XXIV, 367 pp., 1 map; (2 ff.), 459 pp.; (2 ff.), V pp., (1 f.), 333 pp.; (2 ff.), 363 pp. Half blond calf, smooth ornate spine, marbled edges (contemporary binding). Very rare first edition of the first part forming volumes 1 and 2, and second edition of the second part, on the same date as the original. This analysis of American democracy is undoubtedly the most important work by Alexis de Tocqueville (1805-1859), and thanks to its visionary aspect, it has become a classic and a reference for our society. This is how the author presented his work in a letter to his friend and translator Henry Reeve: "I write in a country and for a country where the cause of equality is now won, with no possible return to aristocracy. In this state of affairs, I felt it my duty to dwell particularly on the evil tendencies that equality can give rise to, in order to try to prevent my contemporaries from indulging in them. This is the only honorable task for those who write in a country where the struggle is over. I therefore speak often harsh truths about French society today, and about democratic societies in general, but I do so as a friend and not as a censor..." (Tocqueville. (Tocqueville. OEuvres complètes. VI. English Correspondence, 1954, pp. 47-48). A fine copy in uniform contemporary binding, complete with color map of America. Spines lightened and stained. Some foxing and a few browned leaves.