Tzeror HaChaim. De Termino Vitae
AUCTION 60 |
Thursday, November 14th,
2013 at 1:00
Fine Judaica: Printed Books, Manuscripts, Autograph Letters, Graphic Art and Ceremonial Objects
Lot 220
MENASSEH BEN ISRAEL.
Tzeror HaChaim. De Termino Vitae
Amsterdam: By the Author 1639
Est: $600 - $900
A discussion instigated by the Dutch intellectual Jan van Beverwyck in his work Epistolica Quaestio de Vitae Termino, (Dordrecht, 1634), questioning whether death is brought about by natural causes, or is Divinely ordained. Menasseh’s response, based on Jewish sources, argues that the span of life is not predetermined by the Deity but depends on constitutional, temperamental, and climatic influences. “Of all Menasseh’s Latin works, this was the most successful” (C. Roth, A Life of Menasseh ben Israel [1945], p. 95.)