Reception of Locke's Epistola de Tolerantia

Abstract

Published in April 1689, the Epistola de Tolerantia never failed to call attention. Right after its publication, the work generated a remarkable reception that covers (i) three projects of translation to vernacular languages, (ii) reviews in learned journals attributed to Jean Le Clerc and Henri Basnage de Beauval, and (iii) critiques by the Anglican clergymen Thomas Long and Jonas Proast. This article intends to analyse this immediate reception in order to assess whether the central thesis of the work and its grounds were identified and understood.