Praeadamitae sive Exercitatio super versibus duodecimo, decimotertio, & decimoquarto, capitis quinti Epistolae D. Pauli ad Romanos & Systema Theologicum ex Preadamitarum Hypothesi Pars Prima

de La Peyrere, Isaac

Published by House of Elzevir, 1655

In good condition. Later binding nicely bound. Scuffing to corners and edges with mild discoloration to spine. Scuffing to bands on spine. Gilt work still present on spine. Red morocco label. Previous owner s bookplate on front paste down (more below on famous provenance). Front gutter shaken. Library stamp on rear fly leaf with old and new hand marginalia. Text block is clean and unmarked. Map is in good working order. Old hand marginalia on rear fly leaf. Newspaper cut out of La Peyrere on rear paste down. Binding tight and intact. Please see photos. Considered a wicked book of the late 17th century, this book was heretical and quickly banned. La Peyrere is considered the father of Biblical criticism. He asserted in this treatise that there were humans before Adam. His approach to Biblical scholarship argued that the Bible was just a story of Jewish people, not of all humanity. He was eventually arrested but offered a half-hearted renunciation of his views to escape punishment. This is an important work in the Radical Enlightenment. The wicked sedition which commend with La Peyrere s Prae-Adamitae, gained impetus with the utter licentious, dissipated dictionary of Koerbagh, that shameless book the Philosophia S. Scripturae and Hobbes Leviathan, and culminated in the Tractatus-Theologico-Politicus and Ethics of Spinoza This is printed by House of Elzevir, a celebrated and collectible Dutch printer of the 17th century. This is the true first edition, 12mo edition was published later the same year. Another important aspect of our book is its provenance. It was owned by Perceval de Lormoy who was a famous Swiss paleontologist and stratigraphist. He studied natural sciences and paleontology in Geneva as a pupil of Francois-Jules Pictet. He is remembered for his investigations of fossil echinoderms found in Europe and North Africa from the Jurassic, Cretaceous and Upper Tertiary Eras. He was the author of numerous taxa, an example being the crinoid family Bourgueticrinidae. Seller Inventory # RAREE1655KPRA

Bibliographic Details

Title: Praeadamitae sive Exercitatio super versibus...
Publisher: House of Elzevir
Publication Date: 1655
Binding: Hardcover
Condition: Good
Dust Jacket Condition: No Jacket