A Census of Almost 1,000 Copies of the First Nine Editions of Hugo Grotius' De Iure Belli ac Pacis has been Published
- by Michael Stillman
The Unseen History, a census of Grotius' De Iure Belli ac Pacis.
As long as there have been societies, there has been some sort of law governing behavior within that society, written or not. Communities, then nations, and also religions, have had their own laws. What did not exist four centuries ago was anything resembling international law, to govern behavior between nations, in times of war as well as peace.
War may seem like the absence of law, and fundamentally it is, but when it does occur, there needs to be some guardrails. Dutch jurist Hugo Grotius realized the need for some laws governing war as well as peace, especially since he was not a pacifist. He believed in some circumstances war itself was justified. He described his views in De Iure Belli ac Pacis (On the Law of War and Peace), first published in 1625. It sets out rules that are to apply between nations even in times of this most fundamental disorder.
The Thirty Years War was raging in Europe at the time, running from 1618-1648, along with the more localized Eighty Years War in the Netherlands and various other wars in Europe that seemingly never ended. It would have been better if Grotius could have written about bringing war to an end, but he was limited by the reality of the European nations, living too closely together. His task was complicated by the religious conflicts ever present. He was imprisoned in the Netherlands over his religious views, necessitating his escape in a trunk and flight to France where he wrote the book.
Four hundred years have passed since Grotius published De Iure Belli ac Pacis and of course the world is now more civilized. Of course it is. Unfortunately, nations continue to have conflicts and wars continue to arise. The book is timely today, as it has been in every age.
A project was launched a few years ago to track down as many copies of the early editions of De Iure Belli ac Pacis as could be found, to identify where they are today and what their history was. The result is The Grotius Census Bibliography Project sponsored by the Max Planck Institute for Comparative Public Law and International Law in Heidelberg. They have published the results of their findings in a 784-page book from the Oxford University Press, The Unseen History of International Law: A Census Bibliography of Hugo Grotius’s De iure belli ac pacis.
It describes the nearly 1,000 copies of the first nine editions, published from 1625-1650, they found. They explain, “By analyzing hundreds of surviving copies from collections around the world, we seek to shed new light on how De iure belli ac pacis was read, circulated, annotated, and integrated into the intellectual life of early modern Europe and beyond. Our book is the culmination of five years of research that not only enriches our understanding of Grotius’s legacy but also offers a new lens for studying the global history and modern practice of international law.”
This book is more than just a census. It explores the book's history, application over the last 400 years, and its impact on subjects such as slavery and abolition. Authors of the study are Mark Somos, Heisenberg Professor, Max Planck Institute for Comparative Public Law and International Law, Matthew Cleary, Senior Research Fellow, Max Planck Institute for Comparative Public Law and International Law, Pablo Dufour, Research Assistant, Max Planck Institute for Comparative Public Law and International Law, Edward Jones Corredera, Senior Research Fellow, Max Planck Institute for Comparative Public Law and International Law, and Emanuele Salerno, Senior Research Fellow, Max Planck Institute for Comparative Public Law and International Law.
You can learn more or order a copy of the book by clicking here. You may even get a discount if you use the code AUFLY30
Aste Bolaffi, June 17-18: Galileo Galilei. Dialogo sopra i due massimi sistemi del mondo tolemaico, e copernicano. Firenze, 1632
Aste Bolaffi, June 17-18: Saverio Manetti. Storia naturale degli uccelli. Firenze, 1771-76
Aste Bolaffi, June 17-18: Fortunato Depero. Depero futurista. Rovereto, 1927
Aste Bolaffi, June 17-18: Nicolas Visscher. Atlas minor sive totius orbis terrarum contracta delineat ex conatibus. Amsterdam, circa 1649-95
Aste Bolaffi, June 17-18: Andreas Vesalius. Anatomia. Addita nunc. Antiquorum Anatome. Venezia, 1604
Aste Bolaffi, June 17-18: Tristan Tzara and Salvador Dalì. Grains et Issues. Parigi, 1935
June 25, 2026
Doyle, June 25: Houdini's biography, boldly signed. $3,000 to $5,000.
Doyle, June 25: A volume from Abraham Lincoln's library, signed just before heading to Washington for his inauguration. $20,000 to $30,000.
Doyle, June 25: A very early Confederate recruiting manual belonging to the chief commissary in Lee's Army. $600 to $800.
Doyle, June 25: Rare hand-colored lithographs of the life of Napoleon. $20,000 to $30,000.
Doyle, June 25: The "Holster Atlas" of the American Revolution. $5,000 to $8,000.
Doyle, June 25: Jewish ceremonies in fine hand-colored engravings. $7,000 to $10,000.
Doyle, June 25: A very rare work on Turkish military costume. $1,000 to $1,500.
June 25, 2026
Doyle, June 25: The most important illustrated work on the Mexican-American War. $10,000 to $15,000.
Doyle, June 25: The finest illustrated book on Afghanistan. $10,000 to $15,000.
Doyle, June 25: Henry Justice Ford St. George rescues the Princess from the horrible Dragon. $2,000 to $3,000.
Doyle, June 25: A rare work of Prussian Army uniforms under Frederick William II, with exquisite hand-colored engravings. $800 to $1,200.
Doyle, June 25: Lenny Bruce typed letter signed to a Village bohemian during his obscenity trials, with a manuscript note and drawing. $300 to $500.
Doyle, June 25: Schiff's scarce Shanghai Sketchbook. $300 to $500.
Doyle, June 25: The first accurate published representation of the American flag. $2,000 to $4,000.
Old World Auctions (June 17): Lot 123. Celebrate 250 Years of Independence with Original Stars and Stripes (1790) Est. $1,400 - $1,700
Old World Auctions (June 17): Lot 20. Keulen's Spectacular Chart of the World Featuring California as an Island (1728) Est. $12,000 - $15,000
Old World Auctions (June 17): Lot 42. Schedel's Ancient World Map with Fantastic Humanoid Creatures (1493) Est. $14,000 - $17,000
Old World Auctions (June 17): Lot 591. Matching Set of 3 Stunning Globe Gores of Eastern Asia from Coronelli's 3.5 Foot Globe (1688) Est. $5,500 - $7,000
Old World Auctions (June 17): Lot 9. Speed's Popular World Map with Allegorical Representations of the Elements (1651) Est. $14,000 - $17,000
Old World Auctions (June 17): Lot 168. First Separate Map of Kansas & Nebraska Territories (1854) Est. $5,500 - $7,000
Old World Auctions (June 17): Lot 43. Only Macrobius Map with Britain Attached to Europe (1515) Est. $800 - $950
Old World Auctions (June 17): Lot 250. Rare Map of Boston and One of the Earliest Maps of the Revolutionary War (1775) Est. $2,000 - $2,300
Old World Auctions (June 17): Lot 79. Schenk's Uncommon Map Featuring Two Figurative Title Cartouches (1696) Est. $1,200 - $1,500
Old World Auctions (June 17): Lot 681. Hand-Colored Image of the Annunciation to the Shepherds (1502) Est. $800 - $950
Sotheby's Book Week 2 June - 9 July
Sotheby’s, June 25: Smith, Adam. The Wealth of Nations, on its 250th anniversary. $180,000 to $250,000.
Sotheby’s, June 17: Fontana, Lucio. Concetto Spaziale. 1967. Leporello en papier doré. Bel exemplaire signé. €4,000 to $€,000.
Sotheby’s, June 25: Fitzgerald, F. Scott. "So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past”. $150,000 to $200,000.
Sotheby’s, June 25: Washington, George (as First President). Washington decries “an ostentatious imitation, or mimickry of Royalty” in his Presidency. $250,000 to $500,000.
Sotheby’s, June 17: Lope de Vega. Rare manuscrit autographe signé de la préface dédicatoire de "El Cardenal de Belen" (le cardinal de Bethléem), pièce composée en 1610. €40,000 to €60,000.
