Hardcover
1692 · (Amsterdam / Rotterdam
by BAYLE, Pierre, Henri Basnage de Beauval
(Amsterdam / Rotterdam: Henry Desbordes / Reinier Leers, 1692. Hardcover. Very Good. A collection of 17 loose bound volumes (and one additional damaged volume). 24mos. Illustrated with woodcuts and a few in-text engravings. Bound in contemporary calf, gilt spines with raised bands, marbled endpapers, edges sprinkled red. The joints are partially split at the spine ends, some splaying and a few modest stains to the boards, overall very good.
An important journal of literary criticism and philosophical commentary, edited and largely written by Pierre Bayle (under the title *Nouvelles de la République des Lettres*) and by Henri Basnage (under the title *Histoire des Ouvrages des Sçavans*). Both Bayle and Basnage were French Protestants who fled to the Dutch Republic in order to teach and publish the journal free from French censorship. It was during this period that Bayle completed his *Dictionnaire Historique et Critique*, the single most popular work of the 18th Century. The rigors attendant upon this work and his editorship of the *Nouvelles* (one of the first of the learned journals), contributed to a breakdown he suffered in 1687, whereupon Basnage, Bayle's close friend and intellectual colleague in Rotterdam, founded and edited the *Histoire* as the sequel to the *Nouvelles*. Under Bayle and Basnage, the journal served as a forum for the dissemination of the modern philosophical ideas of Descartes, Leibniz, Locke, and Spinoza.
The collection consists of 18 monthly issues of *Nouvelles de la République des Lettres* dating from May 1685 - February 1688 (bound in nine volumes); and 17 monthly issues of its successor: *Histoire des Ouvrages des Sçavans* dating from November 1687 - March 1689 (bound in eight volumes). Out of the total number of 35 issues, 9 are second editions (revised and corrected). Also included is one additional volume of the *Histoire* from 1691, containing six consecutive issues from June-November. The last two issues (October-November) have had most of their letterpress text pages removed in one rectangular cut within the margins, indicating that this volume might have been used for subterfuge. A handsome, scarce set of loose volumes. A detailed list of all 18 volumes is available. (Inventory #: 386110)
An important journal of literary criticism and philosophical commentary, edited and largely written by Pierre Bayle (under the title *Nouvelles de la République des Lettres*) and by Henri Basnage (under the title *Histoire des Ouvrages des Sçavans*). Both Bayle and Basnage were French Protestants who fled to the Dutch Republic in order to teach and publish the journal free from French censorship. It was during this period that Bayle completed his *Dictionnaire Historique et Critique*, the single most popular work of the 18th Century. The rigors attendant upon this work and his editorship of the *Nouvelles* (one of the first of the learned journals), contributed to a breakdown he suffered in 1687, whereupon Basnage, Bayle's close friend and intellectual colleague in Rotterdam, founded and edited the *Histoire* as the sequel to the *Nouvelles*. Under Bayle and Basnage, the journal served as a forum for the dissemination of the modern philosophical ideas of Descartes, Leibniz, Locke, and Spinoza.
The collection consists of 18 monthly issues of *Nouvelles de la République des Lettres* dating from May 1685 - February 1688 (bound in nine volumes); and 17 monthly issues of its successor: *Histoire des Ouvrages des Sçavans* dating from November 1687 - March 1689 (bound in eight volumes). Out of the total number of 35 issues, 9 are second editions (revised and corrected). Also included is one additional volume of the *Histoire* from 1691, containing six consecutive issues from June-November. The last two issues (October-November) have had most of their letterpress text pages removed in one rectangular cut within the margins, indicating that this volume might have been used for subterfuge. A handsome, scarce set of loose volumes. A detailed list of all 18 volumes is available. (Inventory #: 386110)