BAKKER, Gebrand / BEEKHUIS, Willem
Betoog van het ongegronde, onzedelijke en schadelijke der vooroordeelen omtrent de waarzeggerijen, toverijen, spookerijen. Benevens eene oplossing der twijffelingen, die tot staaving van deeze vooroordeelen uit de heilige schrift gewoonlijk worden bijgebragt. Uitgegeven door de Bataafsche Maatschappij tot Nut van ‘t Algemeen.
Amsterdam, Wed. Harm. Keijzer/ Corn. De Vries/ Hendrik Van Munster, 1800
8vo, contemporary half parchment binding with marbled paper to boards, (2) – 242 p.; nice copy, library stamp with stain on title-page and small hole on p. 2, otherwise clean
Interesting publication of two texts that won the competition of the Bataafsche Maatschappij about the prejudices of the people and the refutation of superstitions. In the first part, the Enkhuizen physician Gerbrand Bakker (1771 -1828) compiles a catalog of all possible forms of
superstitions and cultural phenomena that a century later would become the object of research in the field of folklore. For example the fictional character Goedhart explains to the peasants Hendrik and Jacob that ghosts do not exist and that water spirits that draw people into the water are also products of the imagination.
