32 pp. 8vo (215 x 140 mm.), two loose quires, leaves uncut. Paris: Le Normant fils, 1827.

First and only edition of a seminal pamphlet by Chateaubriand in which he denounces the censorship measures ratified under Charles X. He calls the idea of “freedom of the press” a mere abstraction in France at that time. This article was sponsored by the Journal des Débats, which actively pressured the government to relax its stringent regulations on the press. Chateaubriand, with several prominent writers, formed the Société des amis de la liberté de la presse in 1827 to promote press freedom.

Chateaubriand dramatically writes on page 4 (in trans.): “Honor and my country call me back to the battlefield. I have reached an age where men need rest; but if I judged from my years, by the ever-growing hate that oppression and baseness inspire in me, I might believe I had grown young again.” More about Les Amis de la Liberté de la Presse. Marche et Effets de la Censure…

Wood engraved vignette on title. 19 pp. Small 8vo (185 x 110 mm.), self-bound, uncut. Altdorf: Fr. X. Z’graggen, 1828.

First and only edition of this very rare pamphlet on freedom of the press by Geiger (1755-1843), a Catholic priest and professor of theology in Lucerne. In 1788, he conspired with the Marquis de Vérac to restore Louis XVI to the throne. After being dismissed from his professorship, Geiger became a journalist and wrote numerous polemical pieces on church history, Catholicism, and contemporary political issues, including free speech. He founded the Schweizerische Kirchenzeitung, a Catholic theological periodical, which began publication in 1832 and... More about Auch Etwas über die Pressfreyheit…

Woodcut printer’s device of the golden compass on title. 119 pp. Small 8vo, 18th-cent. Belgian mottled calf (head of spine a little chipped, joints rubbed), sides gilt, spine gilt, red morocco lettering piece on spine (label partly flaked away). Antwerp: C. Plantin, 1570.

[as usual, bound after]:

PHILIP II, King of Spain. Philippi II. Regis Catholici Edictum De Librorum prohibitorum catalogo observando. Woodcut printer’s device of the golden compass on title. 8 unnumbered leaves. Antwerp: C. Plantin, 1570. More about cum Regulis confectis per Patres a Tridentina Synodo delectos, auctoritate Sanctiss. D. N. Pij...

1 p.l., 203 pp. 8vo, orig. wrappers (some foxing throughout). Freiburg im Breisgau: Zehnder, [1794 or -95].

First edition. Censorship in Austria in the second half of the 18th century was an “on or off” matter. During the reign of the liberal Joseph II (1780-92), censorship was rather relaxed. But during the reigns of Leopold II (1790-92) and Francis II (1792-1835), censorship practices again tightened in reaction to the revolutionary events in France.

This is a list of recently published “forbidden” books, for the most part issued between 1783 to 1794. There were four major groups of forbidden titles: pornographic French “gallant”... More about Katalog. Der von 1783. bis 1794. in Oesterreich von der hochlöblichen...

36 pp. Small 8vo, modern boards. Berlin: “Im Verlag der Kōnigl. Preuss. akadem. Kunst- und Buchhandlung,” 1789.

First separate edition, originally published in the same year in the Berlinischen Journal für Aufklärung. This work was written in response to the newly enacted censorship edict, in which King Friedrich Wilhelm II ordered that all publications and other forms of printed material — including illustrations — be submitted to Prussian state censors for approval. Any critical statements of a political or religious nature were officially discouraged. These restrictions remained in force until the 1840s, with the accession of Friedrich Wilhelm IV to the... More about Einige Gedanken über das Censur-Edikt vom 19. December 1788