THE ADVENTURES OF SIG. GAUDENTIO DI LUCCA

'The Adventures of Sigr. Gaudentio di Lucca. Being the Substance of His Examination before the Fathers of the Inquisition at Bologna in Italy: Giving an Account of an Unknown Country in the Midst of the Deserts of Africa, The Origin and Antiquity of the People, Their Religion, Customs, Polity, and Laws. Copied From the Original Manuscript in St. Mark's Library at Venice. With Critical Notes of the Learned Signor Rhedi, Sometime Keeper of the Said Library. To Which is Prefixed, A Letter of the Secretary of the Inquisition, Shewing the Reasons of Signor Gaudentio's Being Apprehended, And the Manner of It.'

viii plus 254mm. Full Calf. Translated From the Italian

Front board is partially detached but secure. Ex Libris paste-down IFC. EP is loose. Heavy rubbing to boards. Edges are heavily worn. Moderate to heavy staining throughout. Some pencilled annotations to front board. Internally tight.

First published in 1737, this utopian novel relates the travels of a prisoner of the inquisition named Gaudentio de Lucca to the country of Mezzorania in Africa, a patriarchal (and socialistic) society where competition and egoism are banned and all enjoy equal property and a spirit of community. Written by a Catholic priest, the novel was originally attributed to George Berkeley. A popular work, it went through several editions and was translated into French and German. "This admirable work is partly a romance and partly a scheme of patriarchal government: the incidents are well contrived and most agreeably related.": Lowndes, Bibliographer's Manual of English Literature 868 (citing an earlier edition). OCLC locates 16 copies of this edition. Goldsmiths' Library of Economic Literature 8370.

A utopian novel which was for many years attributed to Bishop Berkeley. The narrative relates a sojourn in the remote African community of Mezorania whose social system supposedly bears ancestral traces of that of the Ancient Egyptians. It is therefore sometimes described as an early Lost Race novel.