Censorship was extremely rigorous in 18th-century France during the reign of Louis XV. Despite this, copies of a cursed manuscript circulated in deepest secrecy, unknown to the police. Were it discovered, its author would face the death penalty; those who held it in their possession kept it cautiously hidden. Handing this text over to a printer would have been highly dangerous and it, therefore, remained within a small circle of friends who shared an interest in subversive writings.
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