Klefmann's Copy of Spinoza'sTractatus Theologico-Politicus

Abstract

The volume contains a further five notes by the author, taken from his own working copy, in a hand that seems to betray the advanced stage of his illness.3 In fact apart from the notes in Klefmann's copy of the Tractatus, , only thirteen other autograph items by Spinoza are known.4 Who was this Klefmann? The search for more details has until now produced little new information. The name Klefmann relates to Cleve in Westphalia, where a Jewish family of this name has lived for centuries. Members of the family, with occasional variations of the name, migrated to Friesland and the Netherlands.5