Before the present edition, books 1-12 had appeared in a translation by Karen van Mander. Glazemaker undertook the task of translating books 13-24 to complement van Mander's unfinished translation. Glazemaker's translation of books 13-24 appeared in 1654, before his translation of books 1-12, which he published in 1658.  

Jan Hendriksz Glazemaker (1619/20-1682) was a famous Dutch translator, particularly noted for his translations of the writings of Spinoza and Descartes, but also renowned for his excellent translations of classical masterpieces, like the Iliad. He is considered the first professional translator into Dutch.

Glazemaker was arguably the most famous translator of his time and must be credited with spreding much knowledge among the non-scholarly Dutch-speaking audience. "He was a close friend of Spinoza, as was his other friend, Jan Rieuwertsz, the publisher of most of Glazemaker's translations. Both Glazemaker and Rieuwertsz were members of the so-called Flemish Doopsgezing Singelkerk congregation, generally called "near the lamb". Rieuwetsz's reputation too was deeply suspect in the eyes of the Calvinist clergy. It was a public sectret that in his bookshop - "the meeting place of all sorts of heretics and other riff-raff" - all writings could be freely purchased there, even those which God, Calvin or the old Menno abhorred and prohibited: if not in the open, then at least from underneath the counter." (P. Visser: L'Honneste Femme, in "Sisters. Myth and Reality of Anabaptist, Mennonite. And Doopsgezind Women" p. 190).