Julian H. Franklin is Professor Emeritus of Political Science at Columbia University, USA. His primary field was the history of political thought with emphasis on absolutism and constitutionalism in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. He has published two books on the thought of Jean Bodin, one book on John Locke and one on animal rights. He is also teaching an undergraduate course on animal rights in Columbia College as an Adjunct Professor.

• Contents: Series preface; Introduction. Part I Sovereignty: Jean Bodin's 'Logic of Sovereignty', J.U. Lewis; Sovereignty and the mixed constitution: Bodin and his critics, Julian H. Franklin; Bodin's early theory of sovereignty, and The shift to absolutism, Julian H. Franklin; Ramist tendencies in the thought of Jean Bodin, Kenneth D. McRae. Part II Public Law: Medieval Jurisprudence in Bodin's concept of sovereignty, Ralph E. Giesey; The development and context of Bodin's method, Donald R. Kelley; Limitations on absolute authority, Julian H. Franklin. Part III Political Economy: Jean Bodin in taxes: the sovereignty-taxes paradox, Martin Wolfe; Bodin and Locke on consent to taxation: a brief note and observation, Julian H. Franklin; Jean Bodin and the estates-general of 1576, Owen Ulph; Bodin's analysis of inflation, Denis P. O'Brien. Part IV Religion: Introduction Religious views in his [Bodin's] works and The colloquium heptaplomeres and the sixteenth century, Marion Leathers & Daniels Kuntz; Jean Bodin's daemon and his conversion to Judaism, Christopher R. Baxter; Bodin and Judaism, Maryanne Cline Horowitz; Introduction; the enigma of Bodin's religion, Paul Lawrence Rose; Dialogues of Toleration: Erasmus and Bodin, Gary Remer; Part V Natural Philosophy and method Humanist methods in natural philosophy: the commonplace book, Ann Blair; Introduction, Ann Blair . Part VI Theories of History: The major themes of the methodus, John L. Brown ; Bodin and the medieval theory of climate, Marian J. Tooley; Name Index.

'...the value of Franklin's book is considerable. It certainly fills a gap in secondary texts, and will serve, if not indeed help generate, future interest and scholarship by making accessible the best available work on Bodin...' Political Studies Review '...the greatest contribution of Franklin's Jean Bodin is thus to bring together in a single volume a collection of essays conveying the encyclopedic scope of Bodin's project, addressing his accomplishments and shortcomings, and discussing the controversies that continue to surround his ideas. In this respect , the volume is a very Bodinian book. Much like Bodin's writings, it demonstrates the value of assembling in a single work essays on a multiplicity of different subjects from diverse perspectives.' H-France, Vol 7, August 2007