Berington - Mémoires de Gaudence de Lucques, prisonnier de l’Inquisition - 1777

Simon Berington - Memoirs of Gaudence of Lucca, prisoner of the Inquisition, augmented by several notebooks that had been lost at the Marseille customs, enriched with the learned remarks of Mr. Rhédi, and adorned with engravings in mezzotint.
At F. J. Desoer's, Amsterdam and Liège, 1777. Four parts in 2 volumes in-12. 147, 143, 144, 164 pages. Original orange cardboard paper binding. Presence of four intaglio engravings (frontispieces) illustrating scenes of utopia.

Bookplate with rare provenance of Gabriel Cramer, a Geneva mathematician.

French translation and adaptation of the famous English utopian novel The Memoirs of Signor Gaudentio di Lucca (1737). This account relates the confession of a mysterious traveler imprisoned by the Inquisition, who describes the discovery of an unknown civilization in the heart of Africa: the Mezoraniens. The work blends adventure, anthropology, and philosophy, proposing an ideal society based on tolerance, natural religion, and communal organization. Considered one of the major utopias of the 18th century, it influenced pre-socialist thought.

Rare work, with good provenance.