Historia Jeschuae Nazareni, a Judaeis blaspheme corrupta, ex Manuscripto hactenus SEFER TOLDOT YESHUA HANOTZRI

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In Hebrew and Latin. [8], 128 pages. 20 x 13 cm. Contemporary vellum binding in very, very good condition. The author, J.J. Ulrich (1683 - 1731), was a theologian, a professor of ethics and natural law and a Pietist. Front paste down has an early 19th century book plate (ex libris) depicting a shield and crest for James Whatman. There were several very prominent British James Whatmans, father, son, and grandson, and this book was part of their great private library. There was Whatman, James, 1702-1759: English papermaker and inventor of wove paper. Whatman, James, 1741-1798: his son, known as James Whatman II or James Whatman the Younger; also a papermaker; began putting together a personal library at his home, Vinters in Kent. Whatman, James, 1777-1843 his son; continued putting together the library, a catalogue of which was published in 1841. Whatman, James, 1813-1887: His son, who annotated the LC copy of the Vinters catalog appears to be the end of the line, since the 1871 Burke's Peerage notes only 5 daughters (1 deceased) as offspring and this article concerning the probate of his will mentions only his widow and two daughters; A James Whatman, Esq., MA, FRS, FSA appears in a 1856-1857 list of members of the Camden Society. A polemical History of Jesus of Nazareth, edited from an anonymous manuscript by the Swiss Christian scholar Johann Jacob Huldrich with his refutation of the statements and passages considered anti-Christian. One of the oldest pieces of Jewish anti-Christian literature, Toldoth Yeshu is a biography of Jesus which is entirely at variance with the Gospels. It has been dated as far back as the First century. The publication of this work was opposed by Jews and non-Jews alike because of those statements and passages considered offensive to Christian sensibilities. However, it was widely distributed in manuscript form. According to Steinschneider, Huldrich used a different manuscript version to that used by Johann Christoph Wagenseil in his Toldoth Yeshu- Tela ignea Satanae published in Altdorf, 1681. See M. Carmilly-Weinberger, Censorship and Freedom of Expression in Jewish History (1977) pp. 184-186 and note 4 on page 265. Not surprisingly, the publication of this book caused a minor scandal and the Protestant clergy were vehemently opposed to its distribution. The publisher, François Halma was rebuked for publishing a notice on the book in his Boeksall der gleerde Wereld. He was called before the Assembly of Ministers of the Protestant Church of Amsterdam and made to promise to remove all unsold copies from his shop. See Fuks, Hebrew Typography in the Northern Netherlands (1984) Volume I pages 57-58. Seller Inventory # 007089

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