BANIER (Antoine) - LE MASCRIER (Jean-Baptiste). General history of the ceremonies, manners, and religious customs of all the peoples of the world. Paris : Rollin fils, 1741. - 7 volumes in-folio, 394 x 249 : frontispiece, (2 ff.), xxviij, 383 pp., (1 f.), 29 plates ; (3 ff.), 468 pp., (2 ff.), 38 plates ; (2 ff.), 422 pp, 19 plates; (2 ff.), 414 pp. 14 plates; (2 ff.), 430 pp, (1 blank), 41 plates; (2 ff.), 453 pp, (1 f.), 44 plates; (2 ff.), 427 pp, 42 plates. Marbled havana calf, triple cold fillet on the boards, spine ribbed and decorated, spotted edges (contemporary binding). First edition published by the abbots Antoine Banier and Jean-Baptiste Mascrier, of this work giving a general history of the customs and religious inclinations of all the nations of the world. It is in fact a revision of the book published by Jean-Frédéric Bernard in Amsterdam in 1723 under the title Cérémonies et coutumes religieuses de tous les peuples du monde, which Banier and Mascrier considered anti-Catholic. One finds there exposed the doctrines of the various people, their origins, their progress, their governments, and their practices. The religious ceremonies of the Jews and Catholics, of the Greek schismatics, of the Protestants, of the Evangelists, of the Reformed, of the Moslems, of the Oriental idolaters, of the Americans and of the peoples of Africa are successively described. There are also historical memoirs serving the history of the inquisitions. The illustration is abundant and of high quality. It is based on the Dutch edition of 1723, and includes a title vignette after Cochin fils, two figures in the text, forty-eight chapter headings, as many initials, thirty-one caps, a frontispiece and two hundred and twenty-seven plates, twenty-seven of which are on double page and four folding. These engravings are mostly signed by Bernard Picart, but also by Gravelot, Louis-Fabricius Dubourg or Le Bas. One of the plates has been enhanced in colors at the time. Beautiful copy in contemporary binding. It comes from the library of the Duke of Blacas d'Aulps, probably Louis-Charles-Pierre-Casimir (1815-1866), nobleman and antiquarian, son of the diplomat Pierre-Louis de Blacas d'Aulps. His godfather was none other than King Louis XVIII. Light staining in the margins of a few leaves, more important in the last volume. Volume 6 includes an additional proof of the plate representing the magical drums of the Lapps (page 84), from another edition. Provenance: Louis-Charles-Pierre-Casimir de Blacas d'Aulps, with dry stamp "Lud. Ducis Blacacii de Alps".