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First edition. Hard cover, Crown 8vo, finely bound in three-quarter oxblood red calf gilt over blue, white and umber marbled paper-covered boards, the spine with five raised bands rolled with neoclassical leaves and ruled by dashed lines. The titles to the second compartment, with a single gilt, neoclassical motif stamped to center of remaining compartment, with another decorative roll to the foot of spine. Top edge gilt, others untrimmed. Marbled end papers. Letterpress printed upon mould made paper. Text in English. Printed by William Clowes, Northumberland Court. [2 blank leaves], [2] w. half title, [i-iii], vi-xx, including Advertisement, Contents and Preface, 583pp. [1] printer's colophon, [2 blank leaves].**CONDITION: Near Fine. Slight rubbing to marbled paper of top board, otherwise book remains firmly bound and sound, points and hinges intact, with some light foxing seen to prelims only. Untrimmed edges a bit dusty, no bookbinder 's signature. A few old bookseller notations in pencil. AUTHOR D. Jean Antoine, or [Don Juan Antonio] Llorente, or pseudonymously, Juan Nellerto, (1756-1823) is credited with the first published history of the Spanish Inquisition, "Historia critica de la Inquisicion de España," published in Paris, 1817-1818 in 8 volumes. The current edition is abridged to a single volume in length, in addition to being the first English translation. (A second edition was printed in 1827.) Llorente's access to the Inquisition's "secret files" in Madrid occurred during his tenure as an administrator, and eventually General Secretary, of the Spanish Inquisition. He later became a Bonapartiste after the Napoleonic conquest of Spain in 1808, working to suppress the very institution he had formerly served. He was rewarded with some political influence working to develop new organizational schemes for the provinces. His political career was cut short in 1814, however, by the return to power of King Ferdinand to the Spanish throne, forcing Llorente into exile in France. INFLUENCE: Edgar Allan Poe biographer T.O. Mabbott cites this work as influencing the 1842 American gothic horror short story classic, "The Pit and the Pendulum." (pp.678-700). Set in the dungeons of Toledo, the narrator is mentally tortured by the fear of what fate awaits him, after being subjected to "inquisitorial proceedings." The descending oscillations of the "fearful scimitar" of Poe's pendulum stand in for Llorente's descriptions of the Inquisitors' tools of the trade. Scarce first edition of this English translation; last sale of this edition at auction, 1871. REFS: CERL cnp01340058. Edgar Allan Poe: T. O. Mabbott, editor, "The Pit and the Pendulum," The Collected Works of Edgar Allan Poe -- Vol. II: Tales and Sketches, (1978), via Poe Society of Baltimore. H. Chisholm, (edit.), Encyclopaedia Britannica, "Llorente, Juan Antonio" (1911).
Ref: RARE 9482
$225.00