MONTAZET (Antoine de Malvin de). Instruction pastorale de Monseigneur l’Archevêque de Lyon, sur les Sources de l’Incrédulité et les Fondements de la Religion.
Paris: Pierre-Guillaume Simon; Lyon: Aimé de La Roche, 1776.

4to (254 × 203 mm). (1) f., 200 pp., (1) f. Contemporary full red morocco, triple gilt fillet border with gilt sun tools at the corners, smooth spine richly gilt in gilt-paneled compartments with cornerpieces and central flower tool, green morocco lettering-piece, double gilt fillet to board edges, gilt edges, gilt turn-ins; an elegant period binding.

First edition, in an attractive contemporary red morocco binding.
Antoine de Malvin de Montazet (1713–1788) was a prominent ecclesiastical figure: bishop of Autun, archbishop of Lyon, abbot of Saint-Victor, regular chaplain to the King, and elected member of the Académie française in 1756. Although he left no major literary works, his pastoral writings, including the present Instruction, were widely circulated and influential in clerical circles.

This pastoral letter reflects Montazet’s concern with the intellectual and moral climate of the late eighteenth century, addressing what he regarded as the principal sources of unbelief and reaffirming the doctrinal foundations of the Catholic faith. As such, it is representative of the vigorous apologetic literature that preceded the French Revolution.

A superb copy, clean and finely bound.

From the library of Louis François de Monteynard (1713–1791), Secretary of State for War under Louis XV between January 1771 and January 1774, with his ex-libris.