DESCARTES, René (1596-1650) - photo 1
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DESCARTES, René (1596-1650)

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£ 3 780
Auction dateClassic
13.07.2022 10:30UTC +01:00
Auctioneer
CHRISTIE'S
Event location
United Kingdom, London
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ID 794363
Lot 146 | DESCARTES, René (1596-1650)
DESCARTES, René (1596-1650)

Opuscula posthuma, physica et mathematica. Amsterdam: P. & J. Blaeu, 1701.

A fine copy of the first edition of Descartes’s posthumously published tracts on scientific method, light, mechanics, mathematics and embryology. It contains the first edition of Regulae ad directionem ingenii, which ‘reveals that Descartes was already preoccupied with method as the clue to scientific advance’ (B. Williams, Encyclo. of Philosophy), and is therefore a precursor to the Discours, and the first edition in the original Latin of De mechanica, his analysis of machines and force. The contemporary owner of this volume was N. Bellanger, Treasurer General of the Seal. His substantial library was auctioned in the year of his death and numbered almost 4,000 lots, including a number by Descartes, although this Opuscula does not appear. The catalogue introduction describes the majority of the bindings as in morocco or gilt calf, the work of Royal Binder Boyer.  Guibert p.221.



Quarto (201 x 150mm). Numerous woodcut diagrams and illustrations, woodcut printer’s device on title, headpieces, and initials. Contemporary sprinkled calf, gilt Bellanger arms [Oliver 1867] on sides, gilt spine, red edges (light wear at extremities, upper hinge splitting). Provenance: N. Bellanger, Treasurer General of the Seal (d.1740; binding).





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