This book can be seen as a cornerstone in the history of communism, as it describes for the first time how "communists" (people living in a "commune") should understand this philosophy.
[dubious – discuss] In this work, the author advises to "share all economic and material products between inhabitants of the 'commune', so that all may benefit from everybody's work".
[1] Later, in a 1785 letter to friend Restif de la Bretonne, d'Hupay would describe himself as a "communist" author.
[2][3] The book was partly written in d'Hupay's own bastide in Meyreuil, near Aix-en-Provence, where he was determined to set his own commune and live by the communist philosophy, with neighbours and friends.
[4] There is currently only one known public copy of this original edition, which is kept at the Diderot Library in Lyon.