Bidspirit auction | Francisco Aguilar

Francisco Aguilar - Os Thugs: Opúsculo Católico, Miguelino, Liberal... - Francisco Aguilar, 1884. Published in 1884 in Porto by Typographia da «Palavra», this essay by Francisco de Azeredo Teixeira de Aguilar (2nd Count of Samodães) has a 21 cm format and a total of 120 pages. Dedicated to Reverend Father Silvano, the work uses the term ”Thugs” (a historical sect of Indian assassins who strangled their victims) as a satirical and biting metaphor directed at the anti-clerical and radical sectors of the time, which the author accused of trying to suffocate the Catholic Church in Portugal. The copy is presented with its original paperback covers fully preserved within a superb luxury half-leather binding with corners, executed by the prestigious Persil workshop - Porto, displaying marbled paper planes and a spine with the title and fine decorative tooling engraved in gold and blind. Both the binding and the text block are in perfect condition, making it an unusually rare nineteenth-century historical and literary document.