Le Compere Mathieu, ou Les Bigarrures de L'Esprit Humain

Four volumes bound as two. [4], 264; [2], ii, 256; ii, 244; [2], 215pp, [1]. With five engraved plates. Nineteenth-century green half-cloth, marbled paper boards. Slightest of wear to extremities. Ink annotations to endpapers, expertly repaired tears to title and first contents leaf of Vol. III, occasional light foxing. A scarce literary work by radical French novelist and philosopher, Henri-Joseph Du Laurens (1719-1797). Combining liberal politics, religious criticism, and erotic escapades, the work perfectly captures the authors subversive character. An antiauthoritarian in every regard, Du Laurens, despite being an ordained priest, wrote many illicit and anti-clerical works until his arrest and imprisonment in 1767. First printed in London in 1766, initially attributed to Voltaire, the work was frequently condemned as immoral and as a result often pirated. This edition was likely the first to be legally produced in France, with the authorities presumably too distracted by the contemporary political atmosphere in the nation. Size: 12mo.…