[ESOTERISM] AGRIPPA DE NETTHESHEIM, Henri-Corneille. De Ince - Lot 27

[ESOTERISM] AGRIPPA DE NETTHESHEIM, Henri-Corneille. De Incertitudine & Vanitate omnium scientarum. De Nobilitate & Praecellentia foeminei sexus. Occult work followed by a surprising proto-feminist treatise. La Haye, Adriani Vlacq, 1653. In-12, granite-brown calf, spine ribbed and decorated with gilded boxes and fillets, burgundy title page, cold-stamped fillet on covers. (12) ff. 501 pp. 48 pp. Bookseller's annotation on title. Restoration to pages 199 and 200. In Latin. Esoteric treatise on the uncertainty and vanity of the sciences by Agrippa de Nettesheim (1486-1535), Colonnais scholar, esoteric philosopher and alchemist. One of his last works, whose title translates as "Sur l'incertitude, vanité et abus des sciences" (On the uncertainty, vanity and abuse of the sciences), reveals a skeptical occultist; in it, he proposes a definition of "natural magic" as opposed to sorcery, and defends a magic derived from knowledge of divine origin. The work is followed by his "Discours abrégé sur la noblesse et l'excellence du sexe féminin, de sa prééminence sur l'autre sexe, et du sacrement du mariage", a surprising treatise for its time, in which he praises the women of the Bible and attacks the very negative image menstrual blood had at the time. Written in 1509, the first edition was published in 1529. A work of primary interest, our copy is in fine condition in a solid binding.