René DESCARTES
[DISCOURS DE LA METHODE] Principia philosophiae [suivi de] Specimina philosophiae
apud Ludovicum Elzevirium [Elzevir], Amstelodami (Amsterdam) 1644, 15,4x20,3cm, 1 f. bl. [22], 1 f. bl., 310 p. ; 1 f. bl., [16] 331 p., relié.
Two works bound in one volume: first edition of
Principia philosophiae followed by the first Latin edition of
Specimina philosophiae. Complete with blank leaves b4 and 2Q4. Printer's mark representing Minerva and her owl, as well as the motto ‘
Ne extra oleas' on the title page. Numerous in-text engravings.
Bound in full calf, spine with five raised bands framed in gilt, compartments elaborately decorated with gilt roulettes and irons, stamped arms of the Society of Writers to the Signet in the center of the boards, boards framed in blind, marbled endpapers, speckled edges. Library shelfmark glued to the pastedown endpaper, additional shelfmarks in pen on the pastedown, and a manuscript ex-libris of the Signet Library, "Ex Lib: | Bibl: Scribar | Sig: Reg:" on the title page. Joints, headpieces and corners restored, more pronounced foxing on the first six leaves, on the title page of the
Specimina and the last four leaves of the volume. Some spotting on the boards. Unusual paper defect around the author's name on the title page of
Principia, noted in other copies (Library of Congress, BnF), small worm work on the lower margin of this same page, the discreet hole running down to page 129 of the
Specimina. Small loss of a few words on pages 296–297.
This is the first occurrence of the famous cogito ergo sum in the original Latin edition of Discourse on the Method. This Latin translation of the
Discourse on the Method and its two essays, the mathematical-philosophical
Dioptrique and the
Meteors, was produced by Descartes' friend Etienne de Courcelles and revised by Descartes himself. As evidenced by the universal appeal of the
cogito, ‘The first significant dissemination of the
Discours and its essays (as the 1637 French edition was a commercial failure), published at the same time as the
Principia, aimed at an academic audience capable of a true reception of the work as a whole‘ (Frédéric de Buzon). In addition to the
Discourse, the work is of particular importance for its appendices applying his
cogito to various fields of science, including optics and meteorological phenomena. His work on the refraction of light, vision and the eye, and the phenomena of rainbows and winds, are accompanied by stunning in-text illustrations cloaked figures peering through pinholes of camera obscura, elegantly dressed silhouettes admiring rainbows, and throws of palm balls illustrating the trajectory of light rays.
The
Discours is preceded by the
Principia Philosophiae, presented here in its first edition, from his manuscript that remained unpublished during his lifetime,
The World or
Treatise on Light, contemporary with Galileo's condemnation of heliocentrism. As his theory was based on the same postulate of the movement of the Earth around the Sun, Descartes preferred to delay its publication and had it published through different works. In the
Principia, Descartes aims to clarify and establish a rigorous foundation for philosophy, envisioned as a universal science. It contains the first full description of his Vortex Theory explaining the structure and movement of the universe - abundantly illustrated with fine woodcuts showing celestial matter in constant motion, as well as striking vignettes illustrating the Earth's genesis.
Provenance: Bound in the arms of the Society of Writers to the Signet, an association of Scottish lawyers founded at the end of the 16th century, one of the oldest professional unions in the world.
A superb copy containing the founding texts of modern rationalism, at the origin of our scientific method. Guibert, 118 and 104.
8 000 €
Réf : 86378
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