Against the Death Penalty: Writings from the First AbolitionistsGiuseppe Pelli and Cesare Beccaria | Agenda Bookshop Skip to content
Selected Colleen Hoover Books at €9.99c | In-store & Online
Selected Colleen Hoover Books at €9.99c | In-store & Online
A01=Cesare Beccaria
A01=Giuseppie Pelli
Age Group_Uncategorized
Age Group_Uncategorized
Author_Cesare Beccaria
Author_Giuseppie Pelli
automatic-update
B01=Peter Garnsey
Category1=Non-Fiction
Category=HPS
Category=JFMC
Category=JPA
Category=LAB
Category=LAQ
COP=United States
Delivery_Delivery within 10-20 working days
Language_English
PA=Available
Price_€20 to €50
PS=Active
softlaunch

Against the Death Penalty: Writings from the First AbolitionistsGiuseppe Pelli and Cesare Beccaria

English

By (author): Cesare Beccaria Giuseppie Pelli

The first known abolitionist critique of the death penaltyhere for the first time in English

In 1764, a Milanese aristocrat named Cesare Beccaria created a sensation when he published On Crimes and Punishments. At its centre is a rejection of the death penalty as excessive, unnecessary, and pointless. Beccaria is deservedly regarded as the founding father of modern criminal-law reform, yet he was not the first to argue for the abolition of the death penalty. Against the Death Penalty presents the first English translation of the Florentine aristocrat Giuseppe Pelli's critique of capital punishment, written three years before Beccaria's treatise, but lost for more than two centuries in the Pelli family archives.

Peter Garnsey examines the contrasting arguments of the two abolitionists, who drew from different intellectual traditions. Pelli was a devout Catholic influenced by the writings of natural jurists such as Hugo Grotius, whereas Beccaria was inspired by the French Enlightenment philosophers. While Beccaria attacked the criminal justice system as a whole, Pelli focused on the death penalty, composing a critique of considerable depth and sophistication. Garnsey explores how Beccaria's alternative penalty of forced labour, and its conceptualisation as servitude, were embraced in Britain and America, and delves into Pelli's voluminous diaries, shedding light on Pelli's intellectual development and painting a vivid portrait of an Enlightenment man of letters and of conscience.

With translations of letters exchanged by the two abolitionists and selections from Beccaria's writings, Against the Death Penalty provides new insights into eighteenth-century debates about capital punishment and offers vital historical perspectives on one of the most pressing questions of our own time.

See more
Current price €25.65
Original price €28.50
Save 10%
A01=Cesare BeccariaA01=Giuseppie PelliAge Group_UncategorizedAuthor_Cesare BeccariaAuthor_Giuseppie Pelliautomatic-updateB01=Peter GarnseyCategory1=Non-FictionCategory=HPSCategory=JFMCCategory=JPACategory=LABCategory=LAQCOP=United StatesDelivery_Delivery within 10-20 working daysLanguage_EnglishPA=AvailablePrice_€20 to €50PS=Activesoftlaunch
Delivery/Collection within 10-20 working days
Product Details
  • Dimensions: 156 x 235mm
  • Publication Date: 04 Jun 2024
  • Publisher: Princeton University Press
  • Publication City/Country: United States
  • Language: English
  • ISBN13: 9780691211947

About Cesare BeccariaGiuseppie Pelli

Peter Garnsey is emeritus professor of the history of classical antiquity at the University of Cambridge and emeritus fellow of Jesus College. His recent books include Thinking about Property: From Antiquity to the Age of Revolution and with Richard Saller The Roman Empire: Economy Society and Culture.

Customer Reviews

Be the first to write a review
0%
(0)
0%
(0)
0%
(0)
0%
(0)
0%
(0)
We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you continue we'll assume that you are understand this. Learn more
Accept