235 - [PAMPHLETS - ANCIEN RÉGIME]. Secret Letters on the Clergy.

[PAMPHLETS - ANCIEN RÉGIME]. Secret Letters on the Clergy. A provocative, artificially compiled collection in a period binding, bringing together three of the most scathing clandestine pamphlets published “from within” against the high ecclesiastical hierarchy and the Feuille des bénéfices between 1781 and 1784. In-12 (170 x 100 cm), speckled brown calfskin, smooth spine decorated with gilt fillets and fleurons, title label in burgundy morocco with gilt title, gilt fillet along the edges, red-speckled edges. Shows normal wear and tear, virtually free of foxing. A bound collection comprising three highly scathing pieces and pamphlets, offering a clandestine glimpse into the intrigues of the high ecclesiastical hierarchy at the end of the Ancien Régime. It opens with: Secret Letters on the Current State of Religion & the Clergy in France. In three parts: Letters I through IV (22 pp.); continued: Letters V through XII (83 pp.); further continuation: Letters XIII and XIV. (70 pp.). This famous satirical pamphlet was written “from within” the ecclesiastical institution by Abbé Nicolas Thyrel de Boismont (1715–1786), Doctor of Theology, preacher to the King, and member of the Académie française, in collaboration with Abbé Jean-Sifrein Maury (1746–1817), an eminent preacher and future cardinal. Together, they deliver a scathing critique of the high-ranking clergy at the end of the Ancien Régime. The text incorporates and comments on the secret, leaked correspondence of two major figures from the Feuille des bénéfices: Étienne-Charles de Loménie de Brienne (1727–1794), then Archbishop of Toulouse and future Chief Minister of State under Louis XVI, and Yves-Alexandre de Marbeuf (1734–1799), then Bishop of Autun and future Archbishop of Lyon. This is followed by: - Letter from the Bishop of *** to the Duchess of ***. On this important question: Whether it is permissible to expose to public censure the excesses into which ministers of religion fall. 55 pp. Clandestine pamphlet, also by Abbé Thyrel de Boismont. Taking the form of a fictitious social correspondence between a prelate and a duchess, it presents an ironic plea for the right to publicly denounce the corruption and financial abuses of high-ranking Church officials. This pamphlet directly attacks the excesses of the Feuille des bénéfices and forcefully questions the limits of ecclesiastical censorship on the eve of the Revolution. - Letter to His Excellency the Archbishop of Paris. A polemical libel dated 1784. 36 pp. This anonymous pamphlet, dated 1784, directly targets Antoine-Éléonor-Léon Leclerc de Juigné (1728–1811), who was appointed Archbishop of Paris in 1781. The text condemns the administration of the sacraments, doctrinal rigidity, and the financial management of the Paris diocese during the final years of Louis XVI’s reign. An excellent set in a contemporary binding, symbolizing the clerical rebellion that undermined episcopal authority just a few years before the Estates-General.