Il 'De genere, loco, et tempore mortis Jordani Bruni Nolani' di John Toland

John Toland’s De genere, loco, et tempore mortis Jordani Bruni Nolani is part of the so-called «propaganda bruniana». Nevertheless, it is also a text where Toland confronts Pierre Bayle’s historical pyrrhonism, and therefore is a chapter in the reception of Bayle’s thought. A close inspection of the extant copies reveals many differences between the manuscripts and the printed text. This essay addresses two questions: an analysis of the variants, which allows for a better contextualization of the text, and a tentative attribution of the editorial interventions. The variants show the depth of Toland’s criticism of Bayle’s historical pyrrhonism as presented both in the De genere and in the coeval Adeisidaemon. The examination of Desmaizeaux’s biographies of both Bayle and Toland reveals the editorial policy behind Desmaizeaux’s work in the Republic of Letters and his longstanding defence of Bayle’s methodology, making him a candidate for the attribution of the editorial interventions.