(UNLAWFUL SOCIETIES ACT). ~ An Act for the more effectual Suppression of Societies established for Seditious and Treasonable Purposes; and for better preventing Treasonable and Seditious Practices. 12 July, 1799. [London: George Eyre and Andrew Strahan, 1799].
Folio (295 × 190 mm), pp. [1], 618-634. Woodcut arms to first leaf above drophead title. Disbound.
First edition of the Unlawful Societies Act, part of the measures enacted under William Pitt to suppress republican opposition. It proscribed certain named societies, specifically the Societies of United Englishmen, United Scotsmen, United Britons, United Irishmen and the London Corresponding Society, all deemed seditious, together with other secret societies bound by oath. The only exemption to the latter group were the Freemasons, on account of lobbying by prominent members of parliament. The Act had a lasting effect on the book trade and the appearance of the printed book, because it placed strict controls on printers, requiring them to register their presses and to provide a detailed imprint (giving their names and addresses) on every item printed, in an attempt to limit the circulation of seditious pamphlets. This proved to be the longest lasting aspect of the Act, not relaxed until the Printer’s Imprint Act of 1961, which allowed smaller print jobs (such greetings cards or stationery items) to be printed without imprints. Despite the exemption of Freemasons from the terms of the act, it nonetheless required them to submit names of their members at meetings, thereby requiring a requirement for record keeping which has proved valuable to the study of the history of Freemasonry.
Though separately published with a general title for a complete sitting of Parliament, individual Acts of Parliament were paginated to be bound together in yearly volumes hence the pagination 618-634 here.