[Orientalisme] Paul Pezron - L'Antiquité des tems rétablie et défendue contre les Juifs et les nouveaux chronologistes - 1687

Dive into the heart of the great chronological controversies of the Grand Siècle with this original edition of a rare insignia, a true scholarly manifesto where theology, universal history, and a passion for origins mingle.

[PEZRON, Paul]. The Antiquity of Times Restored and Defended Against the Jews and the New Chronologists. Paris, La Veuve d'Edme Martin, Jean Boudot, & Estienne Martin, 1687.

A quarto volume (27x20) of (12), 40, 295, 36 pp. Contemporary full brown calf binding, spine with five raised bands adorned with richly gilt compartments, title piece in red morocco, speckled edges. Wear and losses to the spines, corners and headpieces. Frictions to the boards. Interior well preserved.

Original edition of this major work by the theologian and Cistercian linguist Paul Pezron, which aims to demonstrate the truth of the chronology of the Septuagint against the traditional Hebrew text, a fascinating debate that stirred the greatest minds of the late 17th century. The illustration includes a superb engraved frontispiece in intaglio representing the Tower of Babel and the savants of Antiquity, a title vignette with arms and ornate initials.

The works of Dom Pezron on chronology and Celtic origins were so prized by Enlightenment-era scholars that many bibliophiles, such as the Marquis de Paulmy, specifically sought these original editions to enrich their cabinets of sacred and profane history, fascinated by the audacity of his theses linking biblical chronology and oriental dynasties.