In defence of womanhood

Gedik, Simon. Defensio sexus muliebris, opposita futilissimae disputationi recens editae, qua suppresso authoris & typographi nomine blaspheme contenditur, mulieres homines non esse.

Leipzig, Michael Lantzenberger [für Henning Grosse], 1595.

4to. (62) pp., last bl. f. With woodcut printer's device on title-page.

(Bound with) II: Admonitio theologicae facultatis in Academia Witebergensi, ad scholasticam iuventutem, de libello famoso & blasphemo recens sparso, cuius titulus est: Disputatio nova contra mulieres, qua ostenditur, eas homines non esse. Wittenberg, Matthäus Welack's widow, 1595. (12) pp. Boards (c. 1900). Edges sprinkled in red.

$2,791.00

The two most important literary reactions to the scandalous anonymous anti-feminist polemic, "Disputatio nova contra mulieres, qua probatur eas homines non esse" (no place, 1595; VD 16, ZV 4618), which had denied the humanity of women (and thus their capacity for salvation). The pamphlet sparked a surge of 16th and 17th century satires. The theology department in Wittenberg warned its students against reading the book, while the Leipzig Professor of Hebrew, Simon Gediccus (1551-1631), published an apology of the female sex in which he refutes the pamphlet word for word.

Somewhat browned throughout due to paper; ms. note on last leaf. From the collection of the German lawyer Christian Friedrich Eberhard (1753-1818) with his bookplate on the front pastedown. Both works are very rare; neither one in German auction records since 1950.

References

I: VD 16, G 652.

II: VD 16, W 3701.