PROOFS OF A CONSPIRACY AGAINST ALL THE RELIGIONS AND GOVERNMENTS OF EUROPE...FREE MASONS, ILLUMINATI, AND READING SOCIETIES...by John ROBISON.

PHILADELPHIA: Printed for T. DOBSON, 1798. FIRST AMERICAN EDITION (from the THIRD U.K. edition).

The book lacks its covers, the original title page is loose and chipped (now in a protective sleeve and laid-in), the first two leaves are lacking (facsimiles of these two leaves are in protective sleeves and laid-in), textually complete, 6x9 inches (15x23 cm), 391 pages. In a professionally made custom clamshell case.

Condition: The book lacks its covers; the title-page is loose, toned and chipped, and laid-in; the first two leaves are lacking but facsimiles are laid-in; the last page (page 391) has its upper corner torn off affecting some text; there is foxing, some light shoreline, spotting, and some margin marks, underling and notes here and there throughout, but the text remains clear and legible. In a lovely, custom cloth covered clamshell case that is in fine condition.

Though a flawed copy, this true first American edition of the Anti-Masonic conspiracy theory is quite rare and amazing.

About the conspiracist JOHN ROBISON (from Wikipedia):

******John Robison FRSE, b.1739 d.1805, was a British physicist and mathematician. He was a professor of natural philosophy at the University of Edinburgh.

Towards the end of his life he published Proofs of a Conspiracy, alleging clandestine intrigue by the Illuminati and Freemasons. The monk Alexander Horn provided much of the material for Robison's allegations. French priest Abbé Barruel independently developed similar views that the Illuminati had infiltrated Continental Freemasonry, leading to the excesses of the French Revolution.

Modern conspiracy theorists, such as Nesta Webster and William Guy Carr, believe the methods of the Illuminati as described in Proofs of a Conspiracy were copied by radical groups throughout the 19th and 20th centuries in their subversion of benign organizations. Spiritual Counterfeits Project editor Tal Brooke has compared the views of Proofs of a Conspiracy with those found in Carroll Quigley's Tragedy and Hope (Macmillan, 1966). Brooke suggests that the New World Order, which Robison believed Adam Weishaupt (founder of the Illuminati) had in part accomplished through the infiltration of Freemasonry, will now be completed by those holding sway over the international banking system (e.g., by means of the Rothschilds' banks, the U.S. Federal Reserve, the International Monetary Fund, and the World Bank).******

THE ANTI-CONSPIRATOR, or, INFIDELITY UNMASKED; Being a Development of the Principles of FREE MASONRY; to which is Added, STRICTURES ON SLAVERY... Edited and Published by Dyer Burgess.

Contains the first twenty-four issues of this strongly anti-Masonic publication, which strives to show that Masonry and Slavery go hand in hand. The issues are bound together, numbered consecutively and have an index at the front. The issues are: Vol. I No. 1 - Vol. I No. 24 (June 1831 to April 1832).

CINCINNATI: Dyer Burgess, 1831-1832. First Edition

Twenty-four issues, 16 pages each, 384 total pages (numbered consecutively). Bound together in card covers with leather spine, 6x9 inches, 384 pages plus title page and 2 page index.

Copy of Kenneth D. Arn, M.D., b.1921 d.1976, with his bookplate on the inside front cover. Kenneth D. Arn was a noted Dayton, Ohio physician, and a 33rd Degree Mason.

Only FAIR (but complete) condition, the covers are well worn, with scrapes, rubs, tearing to the corners, peeling to the leather spine, some biopredation, etc, but holding on with its sewn binding; internally, the front and rear inner hinges are split, the blank prelims and endpapers are lacking, the front pastedown has light waterstaining, there are relevant pencil notes on the front pastedown, the blank verso of the title page, and the rear pastedown; the first and last twenty or so pages have corner creases; the inner pages are all toned and foxed but the text is legible throughout. A worn but complete copy of this rare and important abolitionist and anti-masonic journal / book.

RARE. Here is how Louisiana State University described its copy:

"Perhaps the rarest journal in the library's collection is The Anti-Conspirator, or Infidelity Unmasked (1831-32), published in Cincinnati by Dyer Burgess, a Presbyterian minister and abolitionist who connected slavery with what he saw as a Masonic conspiracy to destroy democracy."

About Reverend Dyer Burgess (from History of Adams County, published in 1900, and elsewhere on the Internet)

******The Rev. Burgess was very much opposed to secret societies. On June 5, 1831, he began the publication of a semi-monthly periodical at Cincinnati, Ohio, entitled: Infidelity Unmasked. There were twenty-four numbers of it; the last number appeared April 22, 1832. Mr. Burgess was the editor. The periodical was made up of extracts from other periodicals of like character, articles written by like minded individuals, and transcriptions of lectures and addresses against Masonry and slavery. The burden of the periodical is against Masonry, calling it anti-democratic and linking it to slavery, with some articles specifically against slavery.******

THE TRIAL OF LEO FRANK : Reuben R. Arnold's Address To The Court In His Behalf. Introduction by Alvin V. Sellers.

BAXLEY, GEORGIA: Classic Publishing Co., 1915. FIRST EDITION, FIRST PRINTING, with the date 1915 on the title and copyright pages, and "The Trow Press, New York" on the copyright page.

Printed wrappers, 5.25x8 inches, frontispiece, 69 pages plus two pages of Publisher's ads at the rear.

GOOD condition, the spine folds are tender and pulling from the textblock but holding, internally the pages are just lightly used, tight, bright, clean, clear and unmarked. A nice, complete, presentable copy.

LEO FRANK, a Jew, was tried and convicted for the 1913 murder of 13 year old Mary Phagan who worked at the factory where Frank was a superintendent. Frank was convicted based substantially on the testimony of Jim Conley, an African-American who worked as a janitor at the factory. Frank appealed his conviction and his last appeal was denied in April 2015. He was sentenced to life in prison. A few months later Leo Frank was pulled from his cell by an armed mob and lynched.

From Wikipedia: "Leo Frank and his lawyers made a series of unsuccessful appeals; their final appeal to the Supreme Court of the United States failed in April 1915. Considering arguments from both sides as well as evidence not available at trial, Governor John M. Slaton commuted Frank's sentence from capital punishment to life imprisonment. The case attracted national press attention and many reporters deemed the conviction a travesty. Within Georgia, this outside criticism fueled antisemitism and hatred toward Frank. On August 16, 1915, he was kidnapped from prison by a group of armed men, and lynched at Marietta, Mary Phagan's hometown, the next morning."

Anti-semitism and racism infested the trial of Leo Frank and continues to infest it today. Many historians believe Leo Frank was innocent and that Jim Conley was the real murderer, while others believe that trying to blame Conley is ongoing racism.

"Leo Frank's case spurred the creation of the Anti-Defamation League and the resurgence of the Ku Klux Klan." - Wikipedia

You can read all about Leo Frank, Mary Phagan, Jim Conley, and the trial on Wikipedia and numerous Internet sites.

This book, published in the year of Leo Frank's lynching, is quite rare. From the "Leo Frank Case Archive" site:

******The Trial of Leo Frank, Reuben R. Arnold's Address to the Court on his Behalf. Introduction by Alvin V. Sellers. Classic Publishing Co., Baxley GA. Copyright, 1915 by Alvin V. Sellers and The Trow Press, New York. Booklet format, 69 pages and published in 1915. Original booklets are extremely rare and difficult to find.******

About Leo Frank (from Wikipedia):

******Leo Max Frank, b.1884 - d.1915, was an American factory superintendent and lynching victim. He was convicted in 1913 of the murder of a 13-year-old employee, Mary Phagan, in Atlanta, Georgia. Frank's trial, conviction, and unsuccessful appeals attracted national attention. His kidnapping from prison and lynching became the focus of social, regional, political, and racial concerns, particularly regarding antisemitism. Modern researchers generally agree that Frank was wrongly convicted.

The African American press condemned the lynching, but many African Americans also opposed Frank and his supporters over what historian Nancy MacLean described as a "virulently racist" characterization of Jim Conley, who was Black.******