Londres (Amsterdam), 1772. This work has gone through twenty-five
editions or more and has been translated into English, German, Italian
and Spanish. As early as 1791 it began to be published under the name
of the cure Jean Meslier d'Etrepigny, made so famous by Voltaire's
publication of what was supposed to be his last will and testament
in which on his death bed he abjured and cursed Christianity. Some
editions contain in the preface Letters by Voltaire and his sketch
of Jean Meslier. The last reprint was by De Laurence, Scott & Co.,
Chicago, 1910. The book is nothing more or less than the
_Systeme de la Nature_, in a greatly reduced and more readable form.

Voltaire, to whom it was attributed by some, said to d'Alembert,
"Il y a plus que du bon sens dans ce livre, il est terrible. S'il
sort de la boutique du _Systeme de la Nature_, l'auteur s'est bien
perfectionne." D'Alembert answered: "Je pense comme vous sur le
_Bon-sens_ qui me parait un bien plus terrible livre que le
_Systeme de la Nature_." These remarks were inscribed by
Thomas Jefferson on the title page of his copy of _Bon-sens_.
The book has gone through several editions in the United States and
was sold at a popular price. The German translation was published
in Baltimore on the basis of a copy found in a second-hand book
store in New Orleans. The most serious work written against it is
a long and carefully written treatise against materialism by an
Italian monk, Gardini, entitled _L'anima umana e sue proprieta dedotte
da soli principi de ragione, dal P. lettore D. Antonmaria Gardini,
monaco camaldalese, contro i materialisti e specialmente contro
l'opera intitulata, le Bon-Sens, ou Idees Naturelles opposees aux idees
Surnaturelles. In Padova MDCCLXXXI Nella stamperia del Seminario.
Appresso Giovanni Manfre, Con Licenza de Superiori e Privilegio_
(8vo, p. xx + 284).