Item #70144 Proofs of a Conspiracy against all the Religions and Governments of Europe, Carried on in the Secret Meetings of Free Masons, Illuminati, and Reading Societies. Collected from Good Authorities by John Robison, A.M. Professor of Natural Philosophy and Secretary to the Royal Society of Edinburgh. The Second Edition, corrected, To which is added a Postscript. Illuminati, John ROBISON.
Proofs of a Conspiracy against all the Religions and Governments of Europe, Carried on in the Secret Meetings of Free Masons, Illuminati, and Reading Societies. Collected from Good Authorities by John Robison, A.M. Professor of Natural Philosophy and Secretary to the Royal Society of Edinburgh. The Second Edition, corrected, To which is added a Postscript.
Proofs of a Conspiracy against all the Religions and Governments of Europe, Carried on in the Secret Meetings of Free Masons, Illuminati, and Reading Societies. Collected from Good Authorities by John Robison, A.M. Professor of Natural Philosophy and Secretary to the Royal Society of Edinburgh. The Second Edition, corrected, To which is added a Postscript.

Proofs of a Conspiracy against all the Religions and Governments of Europe, Carried on in the Secret Meetings of Free Masons, Illuminati, and Reading Societies. Collected from Good Authorities by John Robison, A.M. Professor of Natural Philosophy and Secretary to the Royal Society of Edinburgh. The Second Edition, corrected, To which is added a Postscript.

London: William Creech,T. Cadell, Jun. & W. Davies, 1797. First Edition. Hardcover, Octavo, (viii) + 496pp. Contemporary half leather, with brown leather spine and tips over marbled paper boards. Gilt stamped leather title-label. One of the foundation works in the genre of conspiracy theories in the English language. The author, John Robison (1739-1805), was a British physicist and mathematician who became convinced of the existence of a vast conspiracy - masterminded by a secretive group called the Illuminati - who had infiltrated Freemasonry with the idea of using their position to subvert and destroy the political and legal institutions of the West and themselves seize power. The work proved very popular, and soon went through a number of editions, with a second edition published in the same year as the first. Corners of boards rounded, and boards quite rubbed, particualry at the edges, with some bumping to the edges and corners. The leather of the front hinge is cracked, but the board is still firmly attached, apparently having been reinforced by tipping it to the inner margin of the front free endpaper. There is some foxing to the title-page, a little less to a few other pages, there is a little pale toning throughout but the pages remain fresh and supple. Overall a tight, internally clean copy, VG copy, with a pleasant antiquarian appearance. Scarce in First Edition. Item #70144

Sold

See all items by ,