Theft, fraud & corruption.- Vieira (Antonio) Arte de furtar, espelho de enganos, theatro de verdades, mostrador de horas minguadas, gazua geral dos reynos de Portugal, engraved portrait frontispiece by G.F.L. Debrie (dated 1745), title printed in red and black, some staining, occasional spotting, lightly browned, antique style mottled calf, richly gilt spine in compartments and with double red morocco labels, rubbed at extremities, lower cover with several small dents,[Azevedo-Samodães 3508; Borba de Moraes (1983) II, 921-922; Innocêncio I, 292 & XXII, 434; Leite Companhia de Jesus no Brasil IX, p.322; Pinto de Mattos 562; Rodrigues 2523; Soares I, 527 & 679], Amsterdam [?but Lisbon], Martinho Schagen [?but João Baptista Lerzo], 1744; and a 19th century London edition of the same (text in Portuguese), small 4to & 8vo (2)

⁂ 'curious and amusing treatise on the noble art of thieving in all kinds, private, official, civil and military. Its anecdotes are racy...' (Bell, Portuguese Literature, p.265). Although the title gives Vieira as the author, it is now likely that it was in fact the controversial Jesuit Father Manuel da Costa. Our copy corresponds to Roger Bismut's C2.

Provenance: J.G. Mazziotti Salema Garção (modern armorial bookplate).