The library has six copies of Κατὰ Ὠκέλλου περὶ τῆς τοῦ Παντὸς Φύσεως, by the clucer Ioan Geanetu (Jean Zanetti), translated by Georgios Bendotes, who was born on Zakynthos in 1757. The book was printed in Vienna in 1787, in parallel Greek and French.
I think that the author should be more correctly
called Clucer Jean Zanetti, “clucer” being a court
position held by certain Rumanian noblemen.
Jean Zanetti is the Western spelling of Ioan
Geanetu; he was a Rumanian Orthodox
philosopher of the 18th Century, known mostly
for this book. I haven’t read it, but I assume
from the title that it’s an attack on Ocellus
Lucan, an ancient Greek Platonist who taught that
the world is eternal and (on average, at least)
changeless. Interesting that Sinai would have
six copies!
Thank you for this. I was impressed by the bindings, but did not know anything about these books. But if you start investigating, one thing leads to another, and with the help of friends, a whole world opens up. ‘Here he criticised an ancient conception regarding the eternity of the universe, in order to reinforce the faith of his correligionaries.’ I also read about Georgios Bendotes, who was educated in Padua. He was a gifted linguist, and collaborated with Nicholas Glykis, the famous printer in Venice.