19 - [ANTICLERICALISM]. The Political and Romantic History of Cardinal Louis Portocarrero, Archbishop of Toledo.

[ANTICLERICALISM]. The Political and Romantic History of Cardinal Louis Portocarrero, Archbishop of Toledo. The most complete edition of this satirical, erotic, and anticlerical novel, adorned with a striking frontispiece depicting Cardinal Louis Portocarrero, half clergyman and half man of the world. No place, Jeune le Sincère, 1710. Small 12mo, full brown speckled sheepskin, ribbed spine decorated with fillets and the title in gilt lettering, speckled edges (contemporary binding). 4 unnumbered folios and 358 pages, 1 engraved frontispiece, 1 title vignette, 1 header, 1 initial, and 2 end-piece illustrations. Title printed in black and red. Binding rubbed, with small holes at the bottom and on one joint. “The most complete edition” of this French satirical, erotic, and anticlerical novel, recounting the political and supposedly amorous life of Cardinal Luis Manuel Fernández Portocarrero (1635–1709), the powerful archbishop of Toledo, viceroy of Sicily, and state councilor under Charles II. It is adorned with a curious frontispiece depicting the cardinal as half-priest, half-layman. This edition is expanded compared to the original from 1704, extending the cardinal’s story through his death in 1709. [Jones 9; Gay II, 574.] Heraldic bookplate on the inside back cover. Clean and fresh interior.