Kjøbenhavn, Groth, 1745. 8vo. In a contemporary half cloth binding. Binding with wear, spine with loss of cloth, hinges weak. Boards with scratches and stains. Previous owner's names to verso of front board. Title-page reinforced in margin, slightly toucing text. Last leaf with loss of lower half. (16), 158 pp.
Second edition, published the same year as the first, of the first Danish translation of Perau's highly influential work on freemasons - being one of the very earliest published in Danish. ""A man of letters, an Abbé, and a member of the Society of the Sorbonne. He was born at Semur, in Auxois, in 1700, and died at Paris, March 31, 1767. De Feller (Universal Biography) speaks of his uprightness and probity, his frankness, and sweetness of disposition which endeared him to many friends. Certainly the only work which gives him a place in Masonic history indicates a gentleness and moderation of character with which we can find no fault. In general literature, he was distinguished as the continuator of d'Avrigny's Vies des Hommes illustres de la France, Lives of the Illustrious Men of France" which, however, a loss of sight prevented him from completing. In 1742, he published at Geneva a work entitled Le Secret des Franc-Maçons. This work at its first appearance attracted much attention and went through many editions, the title being sometimes changed to a more attractive one by booksellers. The Abbe Larudan attempted to palm off his libelous and malignant work on the Abbé Perau, but without success" for while the work of Larudan is marked with the bitterest maligruty to the Order of Freemasonry, that of Perau is simply a detail of the ceremonies and instructions of Freemasonry as then practiced, under the guise of friendship."" (Encyclopedia Masonica).
1778 Amsterdam, 1778, in-12° de XXXII+195+[1] pages et neuf planches, dont cinq dépliantes. Suivi de: Chansons de la très-vénérable confrérie des Francs-Maçons, précédés de quelques pièces de poësie, 31+[1] pages et cinq planches de musique. Reliure de lépoque en pleine basane brune marbrée, dos lisse orné.
A Amsterdam, M. DCC. XLV., (1745), in-8vo, XXX + 240 p. + 5 planches simples de musique marquées B à F. + 9 planches, num. I à VIII dont 5 dépl. & 1 planche n.n.; +34 p. (Chansons), cartonnage d’attente (Pappband).
One of the first editions. Une des premières éditions, variante avec XXX + 240 p. et 5 planches de notes chiffr. B à F.Impression sur beau papier bl. de Hollande, entièrement non rogné, cartonnage d’attente de l’époque. Cet ouvrage est attribué à l'abbé Perau. M. Ladrague pense qu'il pourrait bien n'être que l'éditeur et que l'auteur réel serait Giovanni-Gualberto Bottarelli.Il existe plusieurs éditions imprimées à Amsterdam: 1745, 1766, 1771, 1781. Notre édition, datée 1745, est rare.XXX + 1 f. blanche + 112 p. avec 5 planches de chansons (B à F) de musique gravée + 2 plans de Loge dépl (planche I & II) + 1 planche gravée (pl. III); + „Suppl. au secret des Francs-Maçons“ p. 113 à 198 avec 2 pl. dépl. (Loge pour réception d’un Maitre. pl. IV & V) + 1 pl. simple (VI) + 1 pl. non numm. „Le Chiffre des Francs-Maçons rendu public“; + 1 f. bl. + p. 200 à 240 (titre Secret des Mopses avec vign. gravé) + 1 pl. gravée (Pl. VII) + 1 dépl. (VIII) Plan de la Loge des Mopses; 1 f. bl. + 34 p. (chansons). Caillet. 8506 (vol 3 p. 257) Wolfstieg, Bibl. der freimaurischen Lit. (Band 2, S. 402:) 29963. 2: 1745, XXX, 240, 34 p. 9 planches + 5 ff. notes musique (notre ouvrage), variante: 29962 (variante: XXVI, 240, 33 p., 8 planches + 5 ff. de notes). Image disp.
Phone number : 41 (0)26 3223808
Paris, Guillaume Desprez, 1756, in-folio, 43 x 28 cm, (i-iv) + xii + 104 + 108 etched & engraved plates (77 full-page, 31 double-page, frontispice included), bound in full mottled calf, raised back with gilt decoration and a red morocco label, red-painted edges. Both covers with a triple gilt fillet with large gilt lillies in the corners. Some expertly restorations at the headcap and the lower end of the spine, title page with some faint foxing spots and some thumb marks, a few unobtrusive stains on some plates, but in all an excellent and complete copy. Millard I , 132. Ornamentstichkatalog Berlin 2513. Not in Fowler.