TAXIL CASE / The Devil in the 19th century / Diana Vaughan - Lot 133

TAXIL CASE / The Devil in the 19th century / Diana Vaughan MANUSCRITE CORRESPONDENCE, articles and miscellaneous by Georges Bois Georges Bois (1852-1910), lawyer, journalist and publicist, was a highly erudite figure on the subject of the various secret societies of his time, most notably Freemasonry. He also took a keen interest in occultist and Satanist circles, and early on examined the Léo Taxil affair and "Le Diable au XIXe siècle..." by Dr. Bataille (pseud. Léo Taxil and Carl Hacks). His extremely detailed analyses come from a variety of sources, including his circle of friends, which included J.K. Huysmans and Jules Doisnel (pseud. Kotska, author of "Lucifer démasqué"), among many other personalities of his time. He was among the first to attempt to demystify the Léo Taxil affair, and carried out an in-depth analysis of the fascicules entitled "Le Diable au XIXe siècle..." ("The Devil in the 19th Century") which began appearing on November 20, 1892. As a result, Georges Bois was subjected to virulent and slanderous attacks through the publications in question. He would return to the whole affair in greater detail in 1897, in a book entitled "Les causeries du dimanche. Franc-maçonnerie - Occultisme - Polémique avec " Le Diable au XIXe siècle ", 1897. In it, we read: "Instead of replying to my reasons, the doctor, and his friends after him, thought it more expedient to silence me with ridiculous imputations, but disturbing for the reader, and which were, moreover, directed with impartial equality against anyone who doubted Le Diable au XIXe Siècle, the Memoirs of Diana Vaughan, etc.... Don't listen to these people," they said, "they're playing into the hands of the Freemasons! In a letter to Monsieur Lhuillier in Charleville [from La Croix des Ardennes], he wrote: "This is a real strategic diversion against us. While the Devil is showing us naked women fluttering in the air and crocodiles playing the piano, we are only paying distracted attention to real Masonry, which is not in China, but here, which is doing the elections, which is quietly surrounding us and is going to strangle us" (cf. doc. no. 4). This quotation and the various documents presented here evoke both the structural tensions of the time between politics and religion, the leading role of Freemasonry in this troubled context, and the position our author, an anti-Republican Catholic, adopted in this context. Important file comprising 29 items, including 10 autograph letters signed by Georges Bois, 2 autograph letters signed by Docteur A. Kakia (pseudonym or pen name of Georges Bois' cousin, a journalist in Lyon), 2 autograph letters signed by Alfred Pierret éditeur, Librairie Antimaçonnique, 1 autograph letter signed on the letterhead of the Ligue antimaçonnique de France, illegible signature [Varaignon?], 2 autograph drafts of articles by Georges Bois on the Taxil affair and the Devil in the 19th century, 6 bailiff's writs (detailed summonses, handwritten documents), a printed document from the French Anti-Masonic Congress (August 1, 1897), the Statutes of the Société des Sciences Psychiques (Paris, 1895), an extract from the "Revue Catholique de Coutances" containing various articles "Autour de la question Diana Vaughan", number 51 (1893) of the Revue Catholique de Coutances, edited by Abbé Mustel, a press clipping from the Réveil Français, February 4, 1897, with an article entitled "Diana Vaughan" by Xavier St-Songe (1896), a receipt from the Bibliothèque des Avocats à la Cour d'Appel for the deposit of a copy of the volume entitled "Causeries du dimanche", 1897. 1/ Draft article entitled "Ils adorent le Diable. Les diabolistes parisiens se trouvent dans une position factieuse" written in pen, black ink, 8 pages in-8, approx. 22 lines per page. Some pencil corrections between the lines. Article describing and commenting on the Satanist world of the time, including a few current cases, the context surrounding the publication of Dr. Bataille's book "Le Diable au XIXe siècle...", a very detailed description of a black mass and Diana Vaughan's first "revelations". 2/ A text entitled "Note pour l'examen du Diable au XIXe siècle" addressed to Viscount Victor-Charles de Quatresolz de Marolles (Chairman of the Anti-Masonic Committee, resigned Public Prosecutor following the first decrees expelling congregations, journalist, founder of the "Corporation des publicistes chrétiens"...) 1 rue Las Cases, Paris. Written in pen, black ink, 4 pages in-4, approx. 22 lines per page. This note concerns the