Hugo Grotius or Hugo de Groot - De Veritate Religionis Christianae or On the Truth of the Christian Religion - 1640

BEAUTIFUL ANTIQUE BOOK 1640, by Hugo Grotius or Hugo de Groot (1583-1645), was a Dutch humanist, diplomat, lawyer, theologian, jurist, statesman, poet and playwright. Magnificent antique binding in red morocco embellished with a multitude of golden floral friezes, a small jewel according to the style of the atelier of Macé Ruette (1584-1644) and his son Antoine (1609-1669), official bookbinders of Kings Louis XIII and Louis XIV. Thebook, the pages and the binding are in excellent condition as shown in the photos. Gift with old dedication in Latin from 1640 to a jurist/judge of the Hague-Holland (Haga-Batavus). In De Veritate Religionis Christianae(On the Truth of the Christian Religion), Grotius proclaimed his adherence to Christianity; the work was translated from Latin into English, Persian, Chinese and even Arabic by Edward Pococke (1604-1691) for
use in missionary work in the East.

Grotius a teenage prodigy, he was born in Delft and studied at Leiden University. He was imprisoned in Loevestein Castle for his involvement in the controversies over religious policy of the Dutch Republic, but escaped hidden in a chest of books that was regularly brought to him and was transported to Gorinchem. Grotius wrote most of his major works in exile in France, like this book. While in Paris (1624-1642) during which the Cardinal Richelieu led France under the authority of Louis XIII, Grotius set about rendering into Latin prose a work which he had originally written as Dutch verse in prison, providing rudimentary yet systematic arguments for the truth of Christianity. The Dutch poem, "Bewijs Van Den Waren Godsdienst", was published in 1622, this book is its Latin translation from 1640, under the title "De Veritate Religionis Christianae" or On the Truth of the Christian Religion. In 1631 he tried to return to Holland, but the authorities remained hostile to him. He moved to Hamburg in 1632. But as early as 1634, the Swedes - a European superpower - sent him to Paris as ambassador. He remained ten years in this position where he had the mission to negotiate for Sweden the end of the Thirty Years' War. During this period, he had been interested in the unity of Christians and published many texts that would posthumously be published under the title of Opera Omnia Theologica.

The binding style is the one that made the atelier of Macé Ruette and his son Antoine famous; red Moroccan leather embossed and gilded with rosettes, spirals and dotted lines. Macé began his apprenticeship in 1598 with the bookbinder Dominique Salis, then set up his own business in 1606. He established his reputation by creating bindings for the royal family in the "à la Duseuil" style, with 17th-century fleuron decorations and "à la Gerbe" compositions. He is credited with the first use of marbled paper for the endpapers of bindings, as well as the use of marbling on leather. He became an administrator of the Confrérie du livre in 1629, until 1634, the year he received the title of bookbinder to King Louis XIII upon the death of Clovis Ève. When he died in 1644, his son Antoine Ruette succeeded him by taking over his workshop and the title of "bookbinder to the king" for Louis XIV.

Title: De Veritate Religionis Christianae or On the Truth of the Christian Religion. Published in Paris by Seb. Cramoisy, MDCXL (1640). Text in Latin.

Description: in-12 size, height 152 x width 92 mm or 6 by 3.6 inches. 16 unnumbered pages for title, introduction, list of topics and chapters + 581 pages + 3 unnumbered pages for privilege and errata. Frontispiece with fine copperplate vignette depicting Christ. Splendid old binding in red morocco richly decorated in gold on the covers and spine, gilded grommets and gilded edges. Minimal traces of use, few small scratches, intact boards and spine, solid and perfectly functioning binding. Text enriched with headers and decorated initials. Pages are white, clean and in good condition, rare stains or oxidation.

References: Palladini, Fiammetta (January 2012). "The Image of Christ in Grotius's De Veritate Religionis Christianae: Some Thoughts on Grotius's Socinianism". Grotiana. 33 (1). Leiden: Brill Publishers: 58–69; Bull, Hedley; Roberts, Adam; Kingsbury, Benedict (2003). Hugo Grotius and International Relations. Oxford: Oxford UP; Alvarado, Ruben (2018). The Debate That Changed the West: Grotius versus Althusius. Aalten: Pantocrator Press.

Author: Hugo Grotius also known as Hugo de Groot (1583-1645), was a Dutch humanist, diplomat, lawyer, theologian, jurist, statesman, poet and playwright. Grotius was a major figure in the fields of philosophy, political theory and law during the 16th and 17th centuries. Along with the earlier works of Francisco de Vitoria (1483-1546) and Alberico Gentili (1552-1608), his writings laid the foundations for international law, based on natural law in its Protestant side. Two of his books have had a lasting impact in the field of international law: De jure belli ac pacis (On the Law of War and Peace) dedicated to Louis XIII of France and the Mare Liberum (The Free Seas) for which Grotius has been called the "father of international law". Grotius has also contributed significantly to the evolution of the notion of rights. Before him, rights were above all perceived as attached to objects; after him, they are seen as belonging to persons, as the expression of an ability to act or as a means of realizing something.

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