Superstition in all Ages: A Dying Confession.
Chicago, IL: de Laurence Scott & Co., 1910. First Edition Thus. Hardcover. Octavo. xvii + 17-340pp. Bright blue cloth with gilt title author to spine and front cover, b&w frontis-portrait of De Laurence with tissue guard.
The author, Jean Meslier (1664-1729) was a French Catholic priest who after his death was found to have written a book-length "testament" for his parishioners in which he examines and denounces all religions, recommending instead atheism and materialism. The great philospher Voltaire was enthused by Meslier's work, and at various times published abstracts and an abridgement of it, and is said to have written a short biography of Meslier included in the current volume. An English translation was published by the translator, Anna Knoop, in 1878. L. W. De Laurence was evidently a fan of the work, for he took the text of Knoop's edition, added a Preface of his own, and published this as the fifth volume in a series of "text-books" for "The Congress of Ancient, Divine, Mental and Christian Masters" he was the publishing under the de Laurence Scott & Co imprint. Lauron William de Laurence (1868 - 1936), was a publisher of occult and mystical literature, and a frequent book pirate and plagiarist: De Laurence had the unsavoury habit of taking other people's works and reissuing them under his own name (sometimes retitling them in the process). Despite his eccentricities de Laurence played an important part in the occult history of the USA: he was a pioneer in selling occult books and supplies by mail order, and the cheap "Pow Wow" books and other books of simple magic which he published were received with great fervor by many in the American occult community. Cloth lightly rubbed and slightly darkened, light bruising and to corners and spine ends, spine darkened, page edges a bit browned and thumbed, pages toned but clean and unmarked. Still, overall a tight, clean VG+ copy (no dust jacket issued). Item #65638
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