Gobineau begins publication of An Essay on the Inequality of the Human Races

Background. Arthur de Gobineau was a French writer and diplomat best known for helping introduce scientific race theory and developing the theory of the Aryan master race. In the immediate aftermath of the Revolutions of 1848, he wrote An Essay on the Inequality of the Human Races, a work he always regarded as his masterpiece and by which he wanted to be remembered. Expanding upon Boulainvilliers' use of ethnography to defend the Ancien Régime, Gobineau aimed for an explanatory system universal in scope, in which race would be the primary force determining world events.

Publication Context. The work was published between 1853 and 1855. During this period Gobineau was stationed at the French legation in Bern as First Secretary, from November 1849 to January 1854, and wrote the majority of the Essai during his time in Switzerland. He had joined the Société Asiatique in 1852, reflecting his interest in the Orient. The book was dedicated to King George V of Hanover, the last king of Hanover; Gobineau had been stationed in Hanover in the Autumn of 1851.

Core Arguments. The essay argues that civilizations decline when races are mixed and that the white race is superior. Gobineau divides humanity into white, yellow, and black groups, claiming history springs from contact with white races. He distinguishes the Aryan race, specifically Nordic and Germanic peoples, as the pinnacle of human development and the basis of European aristocracies.