DONNE, John (1573-1631). Ignatius his Conclave. London: Printed for John Marriott, and to be sold by W.Sheares, 1634.

The Bradley Martin copy of John Donne's satire of the Jesuits—"a text of brilliant and rampant oddness" (Rundell), third edition. This work was first published in Latin in 1611, and then later in Donne's own English translation. According to his biographer Katherine Rundell, "it's as though all the explosive energy in his religious thinking has been allowed to burst free in a one-man jousting match levelled at the Jesuits." The premise is that Ignatius of Loyola is in Hell having a dialogue with Lucifer about flattery.

Donne was from a recusant family, but would eventually become an Anglican priest. Long before then, though, he may have blamed the Jesuits for the untimely death of his brother in 1593. Henry Donne died in prison from plague, held on charges of sheltering a Catholic priest who may have been betrayed by the Jesuits. Keynes 8. See Katherine Rundell, Super-Infinite: The Transformations of John Donne (2022).

12mo (123 x 76mm). (Some headlines & page numerals shaved on D3v, D4r, D9v, D10r, E1r, E2v & most leaves of gathering F; a little minor soiling in a couple places.) Contemporary vellum. Custom quarter morocco pull-off box. Provenance: early annotations and shelf mark – Harold Greenhill (bookplate) – H. Bradley Martin (bookplate, his sale, Sotheby’s New York, 30 April 1990, lot 2783).