OUT OF THE FLAMES

After the book spread through the ranks of Protestant hierarchy, Servetus was tried and agonizingly burned at the stake, the last known copy of the Restitutio chained to his leg—although three copies still existed. His execution marked a turning point in the quest for freedom of expression, due largely to the development of the printing press and the proliferation of books in Renaissance Europe. Authors Lawrence and Nancy Goldstone follow the clandestine journey of the three remaining copies through the subsequent centuries and explore its author’s legacy and influence over thinkers such as Leibniz, Voltaire, Rousseau, Jefferson, Clarence Darrow, and William Osler.