Reflections Upon what the World Commonly call Good-Luck and Ill-Luck, With regard to Lotteries. And of the good use which may be made of them. Written originally in French. Done into English.

LE CLERC, Jean.

Edité par London: printed for Matth. Gillyflower, Tim. Goodwin, Matth. Wotton, and B. Tooke, 1699

A propos de cet article

First edition in English of this treatise on lotteries, their social good, and the nature of luck. The work was first published in Dutch in 1696. "Le Clerc, a Swiss cleric living in Amsterdam, attempted to reconcile the charitable benefits of the Dutch lotteries with their temptations to greed. 'Few men put into them out of a principle of charity and it is clear, as is said, that men should do nothing out of avarice', he wrote. Nevertheless, Le Clerc concluded that lotteries benefiting the poor were to be encouraged. As long as the rich abstained from buying tickets and the poor were careful not to wager more than they could afford to lose, Le Clerc believed that the lotteries were not sinful" (Schrum, p. 101). The rest of the work explores the concept of luck. Le Clerc is adamant there is no "good" or "ill" luck and that lotteries, as with other games of chance, are random. He argues that to suggest otherwise is superstitious and unchristian, because it attributes extraordinary yet possible events to the divine. The translation was republished in 1741 and 1758. Provenance: with the bookplate, transposed from the earlier binding, of James Whatman (either the papermaker, 1741-1798, or his son, 1777-1843); the copy is listed in the Whatman family sale, Catalogue of the Library at Vinters in Kent (1841, p. 79). ESTC R17929; Wing L825. Steven Schrum, "Projectors and Polders: Patenting Trends in England and the Dutch Republic during the 1690s", Newberry Essays in Medieval and Early Modern Studies, vol. 7, 2013. Duodecimo (158 x 91 mm), pp. [26], 199, [3]. Recent panelled calf to style, spine richly gilt with red morocco label. Neat early initials ("NP") to preface. Very light spotting and browning: a very good copy.

N° de réf. du vendeur 183239

Détails bibliographiques

• Titre: Reflections Upon what the World Commonly call Good-Luck and Ill-Luck, With regard to Lotteries. And of the good use which may be made of them. Written originally in French. Done into English.
• Éditeur: London: printed for Matth. Gillyflower, Tim. Goodwin, Matth. Wotton, and B. Tooke, 1699
• Édition: Edition originale