<P> The Spirit of the Laws ( French : De l'esprit des lois , originally spelled De l'esprit des loix ; also sometimes translated The Spirit of Laws ) is a treatise on political theory , as well as a pioneering work in comparative law , published in 1748 by Charles de Secondat , Baron de Montesquieu . Originally published anonymously , partly because Montesquieu 's works were subject to censorship , its influence outside France was aided by its rapid translation into other languages . In 1750 Thomas Nugent published the first English translation . In 1751 the Roman Catholic Church added De l'esprit des lois to its Index Librorum Prohibitorum ( `` List of Prohibited Books '' ) . Yet Montesquieu 's treatise had an enormous influence on the work of many others , most notably : Catherine the Great , who produced Nakaz ( Instruction ) ; the Founding Fathers of the United States Constitution ; and Alexis de Tocqueville , who applied Montesquieu 's methods to a study of American society , in Democracy in America . Macaulay offers us a hint of Montesquieu 's importance when he writes in his 1827 essay entitled `` Machiavelli '' that `` Montesquieu enjoys , perhaps , a wider celebrity than any political writer of modern Europe . '' </P>
<P> The Spirit of the Laws ( French : De l'esprit des lois , originally spelled De l'esprit des loix ; also sometimes translated The Spirit of Laws ) is a treatise on political theory , as well as a pioneering work in comparative law , published in 1748 by Charles de Secondat , Baron de Montesquieu . Originally published anonymously , partly because Montesquieu 's works were subject to censorship , its influence outside France was aided by its rapid translation into other languages . In 1750 Thomas Nugent published the first English translation . In 1751 the Roman Catholic Church added De l'esprit des lois to its Index Librorum Prohibitorum ( `` List of Prohibited Books '' ) . Yet Montesquieu 's treatise had an enormous influence on the work of many others , most notably : Catherine the Great , who produced Nakaz ( Instruction ) ; the Founding Fathers of the United States Constitution ; and Alexis de Tocqueville , who applied Montesquieu 's methods to a study of American society , in Democracy in America . Macaulay offers us a hint of Montesquieu 's importance when he writes in his 1827 essay entitled `` Machiavelli '' that `` Montesquieu enjoys , perhaps , a wider celebrity than any political writer of modern Europe . '' </P>
when was the spirit of the laws written
when was the spirit of the laws written
1748
1748