SADUCISMUS TRIUMPHATUS: OR FULL AND PLAIN EVIDENCE CONCERNING WITCHES AND APPARITIONS

Bound in original full brown calf leather with raised seams and gilt lettering on the spine (pp. Part One frontis [viii], 58, [ix], 180, Part Two frontis [xvi], 327). The original 17th century  boards are scuffed and chipped but intact. The spine is fragile and has a clean split at the exact place where Part One ends and Part Two begins, so that the book is in two pieces. The pages are browned and remain firmly held by the binding. A name (E Burridge) is inscribed inside the front cover.

Joseph Glanvill was Chaplain in Ordinary to Charles II, and Fellow of the Royal Society. He was well known as an author of intellectual, scientific, and other serious writings. In the Saducismus Triumphatus he argues against skepticism regarding the existence of witches and the supernatural, using philosophical language devised by Rene Descartes.

While some historians have questioned the validity of drawing skeptical conclusions from Cartesian premises, others have understood Glanvill’s witchcraft writings as part of a broader program to combat atheism and evince the reality of a spiritual world. The Saducismus Triumphatus was reportedly used in the Salem Witch Trials

SOURCE Smathers Libraries Magazine 6(1) "Saducismus Triumphatus" of Joseph Glanvill: Can a book be deceiving about its true nature? https://doi.org/10.32473/sourceuf.6.1.137336.

The copy on offer is of the rare first edition, of which only one other (refurbished) copy was recently on the market for $6800 (https://www.baylissbooks.co.uk/products/witchcraft-saducismus-triumphatus-1681-first-edition-of-one-of-the-most-important-works-on-witchcraft-ghosts-and-demons).

There is currently a second edition copy (also refurbished) on the market for $6900 (https://www.abebooks.com/SADUCISMUS-TRIUMPHATUS-Full-Plain-Evidence-Concerning/317 30341075/bd).