[Balthasar Bekker] (1) De betoverde weereld, zynde een grondig ondersoek

van 't gemeen gevoelen aangaande de Geesten, deselver Aart en Vermogen, Bewind en Bedrijf: als ook 't gene de Menschen door derselver kraght en gemeenschap doen. In vier Boecken ondernomen van Balthasar Bekker S.T.D. Predikant tot Amsterdam. Amsterdam, D. van den Dalen, 1691-1693, 4 parts in one volume, (16),813 [=138],(6)p; (8),262,(2); (8),32,188,(4); (6),277 [= 293],(3),32 p., with woodcut of a medieval drinking horn, contemporary half leather, ribbed back with morocco letterpiece, 4to.

Bound together with: (2) Kort beright van Balthasar Bekker (...) Aangaande alle de Schriften, welke over sijn Boek de Betoverde weereld eenen tijd lang heen en weder gewisseld zijn. De tweede druk, met enige stukken vermeerderd. Amsterdam, D. van Dalen, n.d. (1692), 80 p. Ad 1: As usual without the portrait of the author; *1 and 2 misbound behind the final text pages of volume 1; here and there waterstained in margins, boards slightly worn along edges (hinges fragile) and a few smaller defects. The original edition, with the signature of Bekker in pen at the beginning of all four parts. This is Bekker's most important and influential work, in which he questions popular belief in devils, witchcraft and (black) magic. The work became an instant bestseller and was translated into German, French and English. But the author was also charged with heterodoxy and accused in hundreds of pamphlets (see the Kort beright bound along). See Knuttel, Verboden boeken 53. This led to his dismissal as a minister in 1692. After the fourth volume this copy contains the Naakte uitbeeldinge (32 p.), a summary of the work occasionally found separately.