Against the Illuminati 1787

Governments decrying the horrors of secret societies were an important source of knowledge about them. Karl Theodor (1724–1799), the Elector of Bavaria, ordered the publication of documents of the Illuminati after their gradual suppression from 1784 onwards.

Einige Originalschriften des Illuminatenordens [etc.], title page, Munich 1787, unknown author; image source: Library of Max Nettlau, Courtesy of the International Institute of Social History, Amsterdam, http://socialhistory.org/.