Jesuit controversy: four works, bound together, France (c.1760s)

Four works, bound together, related to the Jesuit controversy in France (c.1760s), an affair that generated a number of essays and polemics, both for and against the Jesuits. An excellent contemporary witness to the debate.

1). Lettres aux RR. Peres Jésuites: au sujet de leur réponse aux objections publiées contre leur Institut, & de deux lettres apologétiques de la Société, par MM. les évêques de L*** & de L*** [i.e., Lisieux & Lodève]
Paris: Chez les Externes, aux dépens des Notres, 1762
12°: [2], 71, [1] pp.

4 works in 1 volume, contemporary full marbled calfskin, gilt ornamented ribbed spine, red scroll, red edges, marbled end papers. Some rubbing to the boards, final page with some loss touching only 2-3 words, yet a clean and well-preserved copy. Manuscript note at the end of the first three titles “[ouvrage broché?]” and the modern bookplate of Jacques Le Get.

In 1761 a number of Jesuits protested against efforts by the Parliament of Paris to suppress the Society. These maneuvers eventually led to the banishment of the Society of Jesus by King Louis XV in November 1764. The Bishops of Lisieux & Lodève were influential figures in this story: Jean-Félix-Henri de Fumel (1717-1790) was Bishop of Lodève (1750-1790), and performed the funeral rites for Marie Leczinska (1769) et de Louis XV (1775); Jacques-Marie de Caritat de Condorcet, (1703-1783) was Bishop of Lisieux, and he intervened in the matter of the suppression of the Jesuits by taking up their defense, and thereby opposing Voltaire and his own nephew, the philosophe, Nicolas de Condorcet (1743-1794).

Bound with:

2). L’Inutilité des Jesuites démontrée aux Evêques.
En France, MDCCLII [i.e., 1762]
12°: 71 pp.

This work appeared in 1762, but was misdated on the title page as 1752 [MDCCLII]. It addresses the question whether the Jesuits are useful to the State and the Church, a matter directly related to the efforts to oust the Jesuits, a long argument which here concludes that the Jesuits ought to be expelled for their shortcomings, especially as related to matters of education.

3). [Abrassevin, Claude Cyprien Louis]. Tout le Monde à Tort, ou jugement impartial, d’une dame philosophe, sur l’affaire present des Jésuites.
En France, 1762
12°: 69 pp.

Attributed by Barbier to the Jesuit Father, Claude Cyprien Louis Abrassevin (1720-17..), who contributes to the debate around the Jesuits.

4). Toinette Le Vasseur, chambrière de Jean-Jacques, à la femme philosophe; ou réflexions sur tout le monde à tort.
A l'Hermitage de Jean-Jacques Rousseau, 1762.
12°: 35 pp.

A response to Abrassevin’s work, attributed by Barbier to Isidore Mirasson (1720-1787), the Jansenist Barnabite monk.

The title refers to the philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau and his long time companion Thèrese Levasseur.

A valuable sammelband concerning the controversial suppression of the Jesuits who in 1773 were officially suppressed by Pope Clement XIV. The Church lifted the suppression in 1814.