1693 Bekker SATAN Witchcraft WITCHES Dutch EVIL Ghosts OCCULT Demonology DEVIL

When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.

1693 Bekker SATAN Witchcraft WITCHES Dutch EVIL Ghosts OCCULT Demonology DEVIL:
$699.99

De Betooverde Weereld van D. Balthasar Bekker Ondersogt en Weederlegt.
Waeyen, Johannes Vander. te Franeker: Leonardus Strik, en Jakobus Horreus, 1693. First Edition.

Rare occult Dutch book, being the first and only edition of Johannes van der Waeyen\'s examination of Bathasar Bekker\'s De betooverde weereld (The World Bewitched), published two years after the first edition of Bekker\'s famous work. The mentioned author re-examines the existence of witches ghosts and the devil and re affirms the idea that these things DO in fact exist which at the time was in accordance with the Churchs teachings. Bathasar Bekker (1634-1698) was a rector of the Latin School at Franeker (1655-57) before he was called as minister to Oosterlittens (1657), later to Franeker (1666), Loenen (1674), Weesp (1677) and Amsterdam (1679). In 1687 he edited the complete works in 5 vols. of his master Jacobus Alting, followed by an edition of Bekker\'s commentary and annotations on the prophet Daniel. This commentary on thye book Daniel (1688) inspired him to write his Betoverde weereld as many places in the book of Daniel prompted him to investigate the power of the devil. The results of his examinations enabled Bekker to show and to prove that the devil didn\'t have any power on human beings anymore and that all stories on witchcraft, black magic, sorcery and devilry were nonsense. As a Cartesian scholar he was convinced that ghosts without a body couldn\'t affect men.This resulted in a load of books and pamphlets against Bekker: the well-known turmoil in the 1690\'s resulting from the supposedly Spinozistic work on devils by Balthazar Bekker. These works, and certainly the present book by Van der Waeyen, give a good insight in the discussions of this period. Johannes van der Waeyen (1639-1701) was a very wealthy minister - in Leeuwarden (1665) and Middelburg (1672) - and later professor of Theology at Franeker (1677), follower of Descarets and Coccejus, and a member of the Academia Frankerana; he was also a book collector. Most of the many works Van der Waeyen wrote, were printed in Franeker.

Bound in contemporary vellum, with faded handwritten title to the crown of the spine. Light soiling to the vellum. Text crisp, with slight browning; last 6 leaves with some lighter dampstaining to bottom right hand corner. Illustrated with various vignettes and initials. Pages in great shape, all bound and 100% complete; (2),VIII,16,651,(12)pp. Unmarked. Shining example of the rare first edition; a great example of a very rare occult book. Measures 8.25\" x 6.5\". Good luck!