Freudenthal, in his Die Lebensgeschichte Spinoza’s. Leipzig, 1899, writing of the various conjectures as to the authorship of the book, states that W. Meyer has lately sought to prove that Johan Louckers, a Hague attorney, was the author, but that the authorship had not been settled.
Oettinger in his Bibliographie Biographie Universelle, Bruxelles 1854, p. 1707, gives Lucas Vroese as the author.
It has also been suggested that Lucas and Vroese were two men and together wrote the book.
The authority for ascribing the book to Vroese, of whose life no particulars seem to have been recorded, appears to be the following passage in the Dictionnaire Historique, par Prosper Marchand, à la Haye, 1758, v. 1., p. 352:
“A la fin d’une copie manuscrit de ce Traité que j’ai vûe et lûe, on lui donne pour véritable Auteur a Mr. Vroese, conseiller de la cour de Brabant à la Haie, dont Aymon et Rousset retouchèrent le langage; et que ce dernier y ajouta la Dissertation ou Réponse depuis imprimée chez Scheurleer.”
The name “Vroese” appears at the side of the colophon at end of our translation, but probably as a reference only. [↑]
[3] This is probably a Latin edition of the original manuscript from which our translation was made.—Ed. [↑]
[4] See translation Chap. 1 “Of God,” first two lines. [↑]
[5] DISRAELI’S CURIOSITIES OF LITERATURE.
Title, “Literary Forgeries.”