Principia Philosophiae
Rare and precious first edition of Descartes' Principia Philosophiae printed in Amsterdam in 1644, preserved in its contemporary binding of ivory vellum with scattered gilt dots, covered with marbled paper.
From the library of Auguste Charbonnier de Crangeac.
In-4 of (11) ff., (1) blank f., 310, (1) blank f., (8) ff. and 331 pp., numerous figures.
Ivory vellum with a pattern of gilt dots covered with brown marbled paper, green paper label on the spine. Contemporary binding.
199 x 147 mm.
Descartes, René. Principia Philosophiae.
Amsterdam, Louis Elzevier, 1644.
Followed by: Descartes, René. Specimina Philosopiae: or Dissertation On the Method of Rightly Directing One's Reason and Seeking Truth in the Sciences, Dioptrics, and Meteors.
Amsterdam, Louis Elzevier, 1644. With Privileges.
Rare first edition of the Principles of Philosophy and the first edition of the Latin translation of the Discourse on Method, Dioptrics, and Meteors by Estienne de Courcelles.
Guibert, p.104 and 118; Krivatsy, 3116; Willems, 1008; Norman, 622; Tchémerzine, IV, 287 and 297; Rahir, 1007.
First edition of Descartes' theory of Physics, in which Descartes developed his theory of vortices, and attempted to reconcile Copernican astronomy with Biblical teachings. Based in part on his then unpublished work Le monde, which treated the creation and function of the universe in completely mechanistic terms, the Principia philosophiae provides a systematic statement of his metaphysics and natural philosophy. Descartes' system represents a truly comprehensive look at the universe in a fundamentally new, mechanistic and non-teleological way. His vortex theory was the starting point for all serious work in physical theory in the mid-17th century, including Newton. The final part includes the first scientific theory of magnetism. "Descartes' vortex theory was the starting point for all serious work in physical theory in the mid-17th century, including Newton." (Gaukroger, Descartes: An Intellectual Biography, Clarendon, 1995).
Descartes perfected his “vortex theory,” the forerunner of Newtonian gravitation.
Descartes presented the Principia Philosophiae as the “systematic and definitive treatise on the principles of knowledge,” that is, as the most complete expression of his philosophical system. The work is composed of four parts: “On the Principles of Human Knowledge,” which deals with metaphysics; “On the Principles of Material Things,” which deals with physics and states the general laws of the world and matter; “On the Visible World,” presenting his cosmology; and “On the Earth,” corresponding to what we now call physics and chemistry.
The Discourse on the Method (1637), together with the Philosophical Essays as a whole, and then the Meditations on First Philosophy (1641), had already given broad insight into the fundamental traits of Cartesian thought. Here, Descartes follows the approach of the scholars of his time, who conceived of the philosopher as the author of a “summa” giving a comprehensive explanation of the world.
The first part essentially recapitulates what is covered in the Discourse and the Meditations, particularly the proposition of methodological doubt and the proofs for the existence of God. The newest contributions consist of unpublished discussions or clarifications on two main points. The first concerns the limits Descartes assigns to the human pursuit of knowledge: human reason should not attempt to search for final causes, that is, the aims and decisions of divinity, which are inaccessible to man, since he is imperfect (and thus cannot conceive the designs of divine perfection), and which belong to the realm of faith and not of science. The other concerns the distinction between the two forms of thought: understanding, which apprehends truth, and willing (or “will”), which is omnipresent, much broader than understanding, but also subject to confusion, error, and illusion, since passions and imagination are integral to it. From this, Descartes draws the conclusion that free will—the immense freedom possessed by man—can only be misused if we rely on will rather than understanding. This outlines the problem of ethics (will is linked to the relationship between the “thinking substance,” the soul, and the “extended substance,” the body) and of psychology, which are later developed in his Treatise on the Passions of the Soul. This first part of the Principia, while not fundamentally new, completes Cartesian theory.
A precious and very beautiful copy of this important first edition of Descartes preserved in its contemporary ivory vellum binding decorated with gilt dots and covered at the time with marbled paper, from the library ofAuguste Charbonnier de Crangeac.
