10/08/2026
Our book of the day was already banned before it was published (in 1648). According to legend, it's author, the Anabaptist printer Frans Baltensz cut his manuscript into pieces, shifted these around, and subsequently printed it from these fragments. The book is therefore, in the words of church historian Frederik Samuel Knipscheer, "as famous for its unintelligibility, as it is sought-after for its rarity".
Supposedly, "Samaritane, ofte spieghel der godtsvreesentheyt en eerbaerheydt, ofte gespreeck van den Heere, met het rechtgeloovigh w**f van Samaria, oft uyt Jacob van Ephraim van Sichar, beschreven in het vierde capittel van den evangelist Johanne, in prijs voorghestelt, die met vergeldinghe vergolden wordt, volghens de woorden des Heeren", consists of commentaries by Baltensz. on the Gospels of St. John, but it is impossible to make heads or tails of it.
Our copy of this fascinating work is bound (in 18th-century gold-tooled olive-brown morocco) with two other, almost equally curious titles: Francois Jakob van Overschie's "Oiwd niiws of volbragte belofte, by tyd-uytkoop, bestaande in een geheel leeves bestuur, voor den uytgeever en de zyne besonder by een gestelt; ook ten diinst van andre op vriindelyk en sterk aansouk, of 't nut deed, meegedeelt: onder andre is hiir in 't Godlik kindschap beknopt te siin" (1735) and "Brief, aen den edelen achtbaren Heere Mr. Francois Jacob van Overschie, raed en schepen der stat Delf, op de uitgave van zyn Oiwd Niiws of volbrachte belofte enz".
The first of these two works is more interesting for its strange orthography than for its literary value. Francois Jakob van Overschie (1680-1760) was a Dutch lawyer, politician, poet, and prominent citizen of Delft. The second work is a critical reaction to the first, a letter in rhymed form, by the Rotterdam literary society "Natura et arte".
Find our more on our website:
www.forumrarebooks.com/item/baltensz_frans__samaritane_ofte_spieghel_der_godtsvreesentheyt_en_eerbaerheydt_.html
