Psalmanazar (George) Memoirs of ⁂. Commonly known by the name of George Psalmanazar; a reputed native of Formosa, first English edition, engraved portrait frontispiece, title a little browned a soiled with minor loss to corners, some light marginal foxing, hinges repaired, bookplate, contemporary half calf, rebacked rubbed, 8vo, Printed for the executrix, 1764.

⁂ The posthumously published memoirs of the so-called George Psalmanazar, a southern-born Frenchman who, after a brief and unsuccessful stint of pretending to be Irish, spent much of his life pretending to be first Japanese then Formosan (modern day Taiwan), countries about which he had no first-hand knowledge. He invented fantastical practices for his feigned countrymen such as living underground and eating the hearts of children at religious festivals. He also invented a language (into which he translated a number of texts) of surprising grammatical sophistication.