Forsøg til nøiere Kundskab om Illuminaternes Sekt. Oversat af Fransk. (i.e. ""Essai sur la Secte des Illuminés""). - [FIRST DANISH TRANSLATION]

Kiøbenhavn, Schultz, 1791. 8vo. In contemporary half calf over yellow boards. Light wear to extremities. Pencil annotations to verso of front board. Internally nice and clean. (4), 182, (1) pp.

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Rare first Danish translation of Luchet’s famous work in which he denounced the leaders of the Bavarian Illuminati, whom he accused of controlling Freemasonry, generally in Europe, and specifically in France. In his work de Luchet described the Illuminati's alleged methods including grotesque rituals involving skeletons, blood oaths and threats of poison to enforce loyalty. He accused the sect's leaders of pursuing universal domination not through obvious conquest but by manipulating opinions and infiltrating institutions like Freemasonry. De Luchet warned that the Illuminati's expansion posed an existential threat to kingdoms by spreading conflict, predicting they would destroy any state that tolerated them. OCLC only list two copies (both in Copenhagen, Denmark) (Wolfstieg 42769 - the original French).