The "first American version" according to the title page.
I posted a 1796 Law of Nations edition in post #125.
Here is page 162.
The "first American version" according to the title page.
I posted a 1796 Law of Nations edition in post #125.
Here is page 162.
The "first American version" according to the title page.
Correct. These were Dumas editions printed in the United States. But they were in French. These editions were corrected reprints of a "faulty" edition shortly after de Vattel's death in 1767. It is not clear whether it was in 1773 or 1775 that this poorly rendered edition was printed prior to the Dumas edition in 1775.
One thing is clear from this passage. Franklin was fluent in reading and speaking French. What is also historically obvious is that Franklin was the Ambassador to France between 1776 and 1785. He was proficient and educated in the advanced art of noble French culture.
Without Franklin's injection of de Vattel's work into both the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution, the protections of our liberties may have very well been lost today.