Infernal Conference: Or, Dialogues of Devils [with an Alexandria Virginia association]

Infernal Conference: Or, Dialogues of Devils. By the Listener. In two volumes [bound as 1] [by John MacGowan] London, printed. Philadelphia, re-printed And sold by Stewart & Cochran. 1794 334 pages + 1 page of ads. Once bound in full leather, now not. Leather spine intact and front board present but detached. Rear board missing. Some scribbled and notations in ink on the inside front cover and endpaper. First blank page has writing on it as well, “Eli Shankle his book bought at the widow Halleys March the 21 day 1807 price 100 cents Eli Shankle.” The name William Halley signed on the title page. Some pencil notations on the title page, calculating the age of the book in the 1870s. On the last page is written “Eli Shankle 1807 Thomas Berry 1777 Ely Shankle his hand and pen 1234567” Two volumes bound together, each with a title page. Text block fine, pages thin and uniformly faded. The book comes from a Washington DC auction-house. This is significant because there is a well documented William Halley who lived on King Street in Alexandria in the from the 1780s until his death in the early 1800s. He left his property to his wife Esther Halley. The book itself is scarce in an early edition -- it seems to have been first published in 1772. It was popular in America, and was printed there as far west as Pittsburg and Kentucky, in addition to at the eastern presses.