Maître Paul PASTAUD

989 - [PELLEPORT (Anne-Gédéon LA FITTE, Marquis de)]. The Devil in…
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Estimate €80 - €100
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Description
[PELLEPORT (Anne-Gédéon LA FITTE, Marquis de)]. The Devil in a Holy Water Font, and the Metamorphosis of the Armoured Gazetier into a Fly, or an attempt by Monsieur Receveur, Inspector of the Paris Police and Knight of St Louis, to establish a police force in London modelled on that of Paris. Dedicated to His Lordship the Marquis de CASTRIE, Minister and Secretary of State for the Department of the Navy, &c. &c. &c. Revised, corrected and expanded by the Reverend AUBERT, Royal Censor. By Pierre LE ROUX, Engineer of Public Works. Paris [London], from the Royal Press, [1784]. In-8, 159 pp., Bradel binding in garnet half-shagreen with corners, gilt title on spine, untrimmed (modern binding). One of the first editions of this pamphlet, written under a pseudonym and directed against Théveneau de Morande. Satirical engraved frontispiece: “The Plenipot… [de Moustier] receives the abjuration of Charlot [Charles Théveneau de Morande] and R…r [Receveur] presents him with the Cross of St Andrew”. In the text, the names of characters referred to by an initial are filled in in the margins in pencil. A former soldier, libertine, clandestine writer, blackmailer and later a spy in the service of France from London, Charles Théveneau de Morande (1741–1805) was the author of *Le Gazetier Cuirassé* (1771). His involvement in the crackdown on libellists and his proposed police force for the city of London (1784) drew the wrath of the Marquis de Pelleport, who saw him as a symbol of police abuses and state espionage. Following the publication of *Le Diable dans un bénitier*, Pelleport was imprisoned in the Bastille. Slight foxing, small marginal wormholes, tear on p. 59. Otherwise a good copy. Rare with the frontispiece. (Quérard, *Supercheries*, II, 761).
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About the sale MONTIGNAC – 31st BOOK SALE – Day 2 of 4 – Nos. 550 to 1084
Auction location
Auction time 08/20/2026 at 11:00 AM
Pictures credits: Contact the Auction House
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