Het leven van Philopater [Bound with:] Vervolg van 't leven van Philopater.

[Amsterdam]: [Aart Wolsgrein], 1691. First edition. Very Good +. [DUIJKERIUS, Johannes] Het leven van Philopater, opgewiegt in Voetiaensche talmeryen, en groot gemaeckt in de verborgentheden der Coccejanen. Een waere historie. [Bound with:] Vervolg van 't leven van Philopater. Geredded uit de verborgentheeden der Coccejanen, en geworden een waaragtig wysgeer. Een waare historie. Tot Groeningen, voor Siewert van der Brug, in de Waerheyd [Aart Wolsgrein, Amsterdam] 1691 & 1697. 1 leaf + TP + [i] – [xiv] = voorreden + 1 – 221 + 1 leaf + TP + 3 – 12 = voorreden + 1 – 292. 12mo. First Editions.First (only) edition of the two famous Spinozistic Philopater-novels. The first volume describes the fight of the protagonist Philopater (very much similar to the author) against the orthodox Calvinism of Voetius and Coccejus, with some references to Spinoza and his followers. Since both the orthodox and the more liberal party in the Dutch Republic were attacked it did not arouse too much protest from the authorities. In the second volume Spinoza's ideas are clearly expressed in a more popular way. 'We find in this book, without any doubt, a rather pure tradition from Spinoza's most intimate circle of friends on the true meaning of difficult points in his teaching' (Dunin-Borkowski quoted by Bamberger).The book was severely prosecuted and in 1698 forbidden by the Court of Holland and the States of Friesland. It brought its publisher - and perhaps co-author - 8 years imprisonment, a fine of 3000 guilders, and 25 years of banishment. *Van der Linde 72 & 73. Wolf 643. Bamberger 85. Knuttel, Verboden boeken 417. CONDITION: Very good or better in contemporary vellum. Bookplate on front paste-down, annotations on front free endpaper, a few marginal annotations and scattered underlining in red ink on about 20 pages. Beautiful copy of a rare first edition from the Radical Enlightenment.

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