Knight, Richard Payne. LE CULTE DE PRIAPE ET SES RAPPORTS AVEC LA THÉOLOGIE MYSTIQUE DES ANCIENS. Bruxelles: Chez J.-J. Gay, 1883. 8vo, somewhat later dark blue quarter calf; spine with five raised bands, ruled, lettered and decorated in gilt; decorative endpapers. xviii, 200, (2) pages; 40 lithographic plates (39 + 39bis), 10 either wholly or partially devoted to ancient coins, plus one folding plate. Binding rubbed; occasional spotting; very good. Richard Payne Knight MP (1751–1824) was a British numismatist and antiquarian who was famous for his Analytical Inquiry into the Principles of Taste (1805) and notorious for his interest in ancient phallic cults, explored in his first published work, A Discourse on the Worship of Priapus (1786). His extensive coin collection drew partly upon that of Matthew Duane’s (purchased in the 1785 sale of Duane’s collection), and was donated in its entirety to the British Museum after his death. The present work includes a number of numismatic illustrations, primarily ancient Greek coins.