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Opera Posthuma & Arcana Atheismi 
Baruch Spinoza & Frans Kuyper
Amsterdam, 1676-1677
 
The first edition of Spinoza's 1677 opus, Opera Posthuma(comprised of Præfationem, The Ethics, The Tractatus Politicus, The Tractatus de Intellectus Emendatione, Epistolae, & ad eas responsiones, Compendium Grammatices Linguae Hebraeae.) Complete: [40], 614, [34], 112, [8].
 
Bound WITH: a scarce first edition of Frans Kuyper's Arcana Atheismi (1676) - his refutation of Spinoza's earlier Tractatus Theologico-Politicus (1670). Complete with errata. [16], 304.
 
Contemporary vellum over modern boards, title on spine in old ink. Copious contemporary notes(library?) at the preliminary and title pages in Latin. Binding with usual rubbing, top edge dust stained with age, else a very nice, sound, and internally clean copy. Fine.
 
Opera Posthuma features the first appearance of Ethics - Spinoza’s critique of the traditional philosophical conceptions of God, humanity and the universe, and of the religions and the theological and moral beliefs grounded thereupon. The book received, let's say, lukewarm reviews: “A book which…surpasses all others in godlessness and which endeavors to do away with all religion and set godlessness on the throne.” It appears at auction not infrequently, but Arcana Atheismi is a ghost. This is the only copy to appear in any auction or sales records since 1860, and only 10 copies are found in libraries around the world. A true rarity of Spinoza related material.
 
Frans Kuyper was a Dutch Socinian Christian and owner of a printing house in Amsterdam. He partook in the assault of Spinoza as an atheist in Arcana Atheismi. “Spinoza’s atheism was mainly deduced from his comments in the Tractatus Theologico-Politicus on the identity of God’s will and intellect, and from his identification of the power of God and the power of Nature. As Spinoza’s detractors increased their output and musings, it became generally agreed that Baruch was an atheist. An atheist who had covered up his feelings through the contortions of his writings and had to be revealed as soon as possible. Kuyper’s contribution to the assault was direct – Arcana Atheismi Revelata, or Secrets of Atheism Revealed.”(Van Bunge)