[PRIDEAUX, Humphrey]. Life of Mahomet. - Lot 151

[PRIDEAUX, Humphrey]. Life of Mahomet. Amsterdam, George Callet, 1699. Missing pdt. [Followed by] BOULAINVILLIERS, comte de. Vie de Mahomed, avec des réflexions sur la Religion Mahometane et les Coutumes des Musulmans. Amsterdam, François Changuion, 1731. Two works in one in-12 volume. [2]-164-[4] pp. 10 plates including frontispiece; [4]-442-[2] pp. red and black title contemporary tan Basane, spine ribbed, ornate but rubbed, tan title page, richly ornate caissons (binding rubbed, headbands worn, hinge on. split, frontispiece awkwardly laminated, light scattered freckling, title of first work and one introductory leaf lacking). Set of two anti-Islamic works on the life of Muhammad. The author of the first book, Humphrey Prideaux, considers the Koran to be an expression of despotic arbitrariness. This work includes a frontispiece and 9 black copper-engraved plates. A total of 10 plates. The second work by the Comte de Boulainvilliers, in its second edition, offers a daring re-reading of Islam and its relationship with Christianity, promoting a rational, purified vision of religion, embodied by the figure of Muhammad. One of the most significant anti-religious texts of the Enlightenment. Titles and dates of the two works handwritten on the first flyleaf. Provenance: Ex-libris J. Haumont, sous-lieutenant, 1871, handwritten on last flyleaf.