Traitté des Ceremonies Superstitieuses des Juifs tant Anciens que Modernes [“Treatise of the Superstitious Ceremonies of Jews, Ancient as well as Modern.”]
AUCTION 51 |
Thursday, June 23rd,
2011 at 1:00
Fine Judaica: Printed Books, Manuscripts Graphic & Ceremonial Art Including: The Alfonso Cassuto Collection of Iberian Books, Part II
Lot 39
(SPINOZA, BENEDICTUS DE).
Traitté des Ceremonies Superstitieuses des Juifs tant Anciens que Modernes [“Treatise of the Superstitious Ceremonies of Jews, Ancient as well as Modern.”]
Amsterdam: Jacob Smith 1678
Est: $700 - $1,000
PRICE REALIZED $1,600
By ordinance of the Magistrate of Utrecht in 1678, it was forbidden not only to print, but even to own any of Spinoza's works. Consequently, this French translation bears a false title and is in fact Spinoza's Tractatus Theologico-Politicus. See F. Bamberger, The Early Editions of Spinoza's Tractatus Theologico-Polticus, in: Bibliography and Booklore (1961). See also Jewish Political Studies Review (Vol. 7, Nos. 1-2; Spring 1995), recording a colloquium on Spinoza's theories as presented in the Tractatus, by scholars Daniel J. Elazar, George Gross, Harvey Shulman, Martin Yaffe, et al