THE PRAISE OF HELL: or, a View of the Infernal Regions. Containing Some Account of the Advantages of that Place, with Respect to its Antiquity, Situation, and Stability. Together with a description of Its Inhabitants; their dresses, manners, Amusements. By Jean Frédéric Bernard. Translated from the French.

Dublin: James Potts, 1760. First English edition, originally published the previous year in France as Eloge d'Enfer.

TWO VOLUMES. Leather covers, five raised spine bands, leather title labels, 4x6.25 inches (9.5x15.5 cm). Pagination: [16], xvi, 191; [8], 224 pp. Illustrated with an engraved frontispiece in each volume, an additional plate in Volume 1, and four additional plates in Volume 2.

A satirical work that finds Hell to be a well ordered and nicely governed place to reside, more attractive than the alternative. The author describes many of its residents, including Alexander VI and Albertus Magnus. Hell is easy to get into and one meets the most interesting people there.

GOOD condition: The covers have light wear and scuffing, the corner tips are bumped, the hinges are tender, especially the front hinge of Volume I; internally, the endpapers have offsetting from the leather covers and some foxing, otherwise the pages are just lightly toned with some foxing here and there.