January, 1789: Sieyès, What Is the Third Estate?

Abstract

This is the most famous pamphlet of the deluge that accompanied the writing of the cahiers and the preparations for the Estates General. It was written late in 1788, at the time of the meeting of the second Assembly of Notables, by a priest, Emmanuel Joseph Sieyès (1748–1836), and published anonymously in January, 1789. The first edition was a pamphlet of 127 pages. There were two more editions in 1789 and many later ones, including English and German translations. Nevertheless the pamphlet became rare in the nineteenth century, and in 1888 the Société de l’Histoire de la Révolution Française sponsored a critical edition, Qu’est-ce que le Tiers État? par Emmanuel Sieyès précédé de l’Essai sur les privilèges. Édition critique avec une introduction par Edme Champion.