The Massacre at the Carmes in 1792, When an Archbishop, Two Bishops..

1855. London: Edward Lumley, 1855. Extra-illustrated. London: Edward Lumley, 1855. Extra-illustrated. Extra-Illustrated With Fourteen Plates Belaney, Robert [1804-1899]. The Massacre at the Carmes in 1792; When an Archbishop, Two Bishops, And About Two Hundred Priests Suffered Martyrdom for the Faith. London: Edward Lumley, 1855. viii, 151 pp. Extra-illustrated with 14 plates with tissue guards. Octavo (8-1/4" x 5-1/4"). Signed later three-quarter morocco over cloth by Alfred Smith & Co., raised bands, gilt title and gilt ornaments to spine, top-edge gilt, marbled endpaper, ribbon marker. Negligible light rubbing to extremities, corners lightly bumped. Moderate toning to text, faint stains to a few leaves, light foxing to some of the plates, small early owner signature and blind-embossed stamp (of John Acklam, Gravesend) to head of title page. $850. * Only edition. Belaney converted to Catholicism as a master's student at Cambridge and entered the priesthood in 1855. This book examines an event that occurred during the September Massacres in 1792, a horrific series of government-sponsored mass killings of political prisoners in Paris during the French Revolution. This horrific decision was motivated by a desire for revenge, a need to assert control, a fear of conspiracy and concern about an imminent war with Prussia. Around 1,000 to 1,500 people were killed, about half of the prison population. The murder of priests, two bishops and an archbishop in Carmes Prison, a former Carmelite convent, was especially shocking. By the early 1800s these men were considered martyrs by Catholics. For conservatives, their massacre showed the danger of revolution to the established social order. Among the added plates in our copy are depictions of Pope Pius VI, Edmund Burke and Napoleon III. British Museum Catalogue (Compact Edition) 2:787.