Praeadamitae…Primi Homines ante Adamum conditi [“Pre-Adamite…The First Men Before Adam”]

Isaac La Peyr`ere (1594 or 1596-1676) was a French Bible critic of Marrano background. His book Praeadamitae - which claimed that Adam was not the first man, that the Flood was a local event, and that Moses did not write the Pentateuch - was deemed heretical, banned and burned. It is believed that La Peyr`ere’s views influenced the budding Spinoza. See R.H. Popkin, Isaac La Peyr`ere: His Life, Work and Influence (1987); A.J. Saraiva, “Antonio Vieira, Menasseh Ben Israel et le Cinquieme Empire,” Studia Rosenthaliana Vol. VI, No. 1 (January 1972), pp. 38-43; EJ, Vol. X, cols.1425-6.