[SPINOZA]
Tractatus Theologico-Politicus Continens dissertationes aliquot, quibus ostenditur libertatem philosophandi non tantum salva pietate, & reipublica pace posse concedi: sed eandem nisi cum pace reipublicae, ipsaque pietate tolli non posse.
Hamburgi [= Amsterdam], apud Henricum Künrath [= Jan Rieuwertsz], 1670, (after 1677). 4to. [2 blanks, 12], 233, [1, blank] pp. A few leaves very slightly foxed. Traces of ticket on first free endpaper. Shelf number in pen on upper pastedown. Exceptionally well preserved, completely in original state. Fine copy. Contemp. vellum. 2 slight dents in frontboard. Binding very slightly warped. Kingma-Offenberg 7 (T5). Bamberger 684. "The purpose of the State is freedom". This is a central theme of the Tractatus Theologico-Politicus. Spinoza's second publication is a passionate appeal for freedom of thought and self-expression. The conditions for a secular, democratic states are formulated in a superior way. With the publication, Spinoza clearly takes position in the ongoing power struggle in the republic, risking his scientific carreer and his life. The book appeared anonymously, under fictitious imprint, but to many it was no secret that the author was `the atheist Jew from Voorburg'. From the beginning the book was under constant attack of the clergy. Spinoza's allies in high places could not prevent the book from being banned, but for a long time they managed to avoid effective measures against it. First edition, fifth issue. Probably printed after 1677. Kingma/ Offenberg, in their introduction to the complicated printing history of the book, argue that in spite of all the research the problem of the sequence of the 1670-dated issues is not yet definitively solved.

Antiquariaat Spinoza
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