2 volumes, 8vo (224 x 141 mm). Half-titles; engraved folding map in vol. II with hand-coloring in outline (short tear to fold). IN ORIGINAL BOARDS UNCUT (neatly rebacked preserving old letterpress labels, slightly soiled and rubbed). Provenance: Rice (bookseller's ticket on pastedown vol. I).

Second edition of De Tocqueville's treatise on America, "one of the most important texts on political literature" (PMM). Tocqueville's depiction of America is both appreciative and critical - he recognizes the country's democratic achievements while highlighting its inherent challenges and contradictions. Tocqueville believed that equality was the great political and social idea of the age, and thought that the United States offered the most advanced example of equality in action. Howes T278; Sabin 96062.