Index Librorum Prohibitorum[Index of Prohibited Books]

Romae: ex typographia rev. Cam. apost., 1717. First Thus. vellum. Near fine. 1717 INDEX OF PROHIBITED BOOKS [Spinoza]

Regnante Clemente XI, Index Librorum Prohibitorum usque ad totum mensem Martii MDCCXVII. ex typographia rev. Cam. apost., Romae, 1717. 1 blank leaf + TP + 3 leaves = Regulae Indices + 2 leaves = Observationes + 3 leaves = Instructio + [1] - 524 + 525 - 527 = Nota + 528 - 531 = Decretum, 12mo,


The Index of the Church was sparked off by the Reformation and first issued in 1543. It was then first published in 1559. Thereafter the office of the Apostolic Camera periodically published updated catalogues of books deemed to be dangerous to faith and morals. This particular issue reprints the 1710 Decree of Clement XI prohibiting discussion of the Coeremoniarum Sinensium, or Chinese Rites. These concerned the elements of Confucianism that Fr Matteo Ricci S.J. had incorporated into the brand of Catholicism propagated in the Sino-Manchu Empire. Important books of the Radical Enlightenment listed, including Spinoza’s Tractatus Theologico-Politicus.

CONDITION: Very good to near fIne. Contemporary blind stamped pigskin over wooden boards with brass catches and clasps. Title somewhat stained, otherwise virtually unspotted and unstained. Provenance: Monastery of St. Nicholas, Innsbruck with their dated inscription (1721) on the title-page and final leaf. An exceptionally well-preserved copy of a rare edition of the Church Index of Prohibited Books.