List 17

Ten First or Early Editions by

Rene Descartes, David Hume & Arthur Schopenhauer

including a Framed Hume Signature & a Schopenhauer Presentation Copy

ATHENA RARE BOOKS 424 Riverside Drive, Fairfield, CT ‐ (203) 254‐2727 – [email protected]

René Descartes [1596-1650]

1650 “Cogito Ergo Sum” – The Second Latin Edition of the Discours

Specimina Philosophiæ: Seu Dissertatio de Methodo Recte regendæ rationis, & veritatis in scientiis investigandæ: Dioptice, et Meteora (The Proofs of Philosophy: The Discourse on the Method of Properly conducting the reason & seeking for truth in the sciences: Dioptics and Meteors), Ludovicum Elzevirium, Amstelodami [Amsterdam], 1650. TP + [i]-[xiii] = Index + 1-316; Small Quarto. Second Latin Edition of Descartes’ First Book. Guibert p. 105. $ 2,250

With printer’s woodcut device on the title and numerous woodcut illustrations and diagrams in the text. NOTE: the Geometri which appeared in the original Discours does not appear here.

When Descartes published his famous Discours in 1637, it was written in the vernacular language, French. This was a radical thing to do in 1637 since all scholarly books at the time were written and published in Latin (Galileo’s Dialogue on the Two Chief Systems (1625-29) and the Discours (1637) are the two first important work of Western philosophy and science to be originally published in a vernacular language rather than Latin).

This Latin translation from the French was done by Estienne de Courcelles and it contains Descartes’ most famous line (and perhaps the most famous single line ever written by a philosopher): “Cogito, ergo sum” (see page 28, line 22 of the present copy).

Contemporary marbled paper over boards with a more recent, unmarked vellum spine. Overall, a clean and very pretty copy of a later issue of one of the most important works in the canon of Western Philosophy.

1650 First Latin Quarto Edition of Descartes’ Important Work on the Workings of the Body and Soul

Passiones Animaæ (Passions of the Soul), Ludovicum Elzevirium, Amstelodami, 1650. TP + [i]-[ii] = Ad Lectorum + [iii]-[xxi] = Epistolae & Responsios + 1-65 + 77 + 67-98 + [99]-[103] = Index, Small Octavo. First Latin Quarto Edition. Guibert, pp. 158- 159. $ 2,250

The first Latin editions were published by Elzivier in 1650 in both 12mo and quarto formats – most likely simultaneously although the 12mo version is typically given priority. This Latin translation of the original French edition of Les passions de l’ame (1649) was done by Samuel and Henri des Marets. An English translation was also published in the same year.

The Latin edition of Descartes' last work, Les passions de l’ame (1649), was written in Egmond-Binnen, his last Dutch residence, for Queen Christina of Sweden, and first published in the original French the previous year.

It discusses psychology, ethics and the relationship between mind and body; Descartes believed that the soul was a definite entity giving rise to senses, thoughts, feelings, affections and acts of volition and he was one of the first to regard the brain as an organ which integrated the function of mind and body. Such beliefs had a powerful influence on the thinking of men like Robert Hooke, Giovanni Borelli, Jan Swammerdam and Thomas Willis, and, at a time when scientific research was expanding rapidly, Descartes' theories helped to explain the more puzzling problems of human physiology (see: Heirs of Hippocrates, no. 291).

"Finally, he brought physiological psychology within the compass of his system in 'Les passions de l'aime' in 1649. This system aimed to be as complete as Aristotle's, which it was designed to replace. It was not by chance that it dealt in the same order with many of the same phenomena (such as the rainbow), as well as with others more recently investigated (such as magnetism)." (DSB)

Later grey-blue paper over boards. The text is clean and tight. A nice copy of this important work by Descartes.

1668, 1678, 1683

Complete Latin Collection of Descartes’ Letters

Epistolæ, Partim ab Auctore Latino sermone conscriptæ, partim ex Gallico translatæ. In quibus omnis generis quæstiones Philosophicæ tractantur, & explicantur plurimæ difficultates quæ in reliquis eius operibus occurrunt. Pars Prima (- Secunda) Danielem Elzevirium, Amstelodami, 1668 & 1678 [and] Epistolæ, Partim Latino sermone conscriptæ, partim è Gallico Latinim versae. In quibus respondet ad plures difficultates ipsi pro positas in Dioptrica, Geometria, variisque aliarum scentiarum subjectis. Pars Tertia, Blauiana, Amstelodami, 1683. Volume I: TP + [i]-[ii] = Præfatiuncula + [iii]-[vi] = Index + 1-383; Volume II: TP + [i]-[ii] = Eruditissimo = 1-404 + [405]-[408] = Index; Volume III: TP + [i]-[xiii] = Præfatio + [xiv] = Index + 1-427. Small Quarto. Complete Latin Edition. (Lettres de Descartes #9 [dating the second volume 1668] and #11, Guibert, pp. 88-92.)

$ 5,200 With numerous woodcuts in text.

The complete Latin edition of Descartes’ letters with a first edition copy of volume I (1668) by Elzevirium and their first edition, second printing of volume II (1678) along with a first edition copy of volume III, first published by Blauiana in 1683.

Descartes letters were published piecemeal and erratically over the years. The first book of his letters – also in Latin – was published in 1643 and limited to those letters written in response to attacks on Cartesian philosophy by his academic enemy – the orthodox Calvinist, Voetius. In 1656 (six years after Descartes’ death) a small, 59-page octavo Latin volume was published that contained just Fragmenti ex Cartesii Epistolis. Following this, from 1657 through 1667, six editions of this ever-expanding collection of letters appeared in French. Then in 1668, Elzevirium published the expanded two- volume Latin collection [as here] that was enlarged yet again in 1682/3 when Bluiana reprinted Elzevirium’s two volumes and added a third.

With the misnumbered pages at 151 [161] and 278 [378] as called for in Guibert for volume I. The second volume here is dated 1678 on the title page, rather than 1668 as called for in Guibert and does not contain the three first misnumberings noted in that bibliography (6 for 61, 74 for 64 and 206 for 106), but does have the final two distinctive misnumberings for that printing with 192 for 194 and 140 appearing where it should read 240. These only partially corrected mistakes would indicate that this is a second printing of the second volume by Elzevirium which was unknown to Guibert.

Three matching volumes in full contemporary vellum with spine titles in a manuscript hand. There is a small armorial stamp in the mid- right-hand edge of each title page and a semi-circular discoloration to the lower right corner of the title page of Volume I. Otherwise, a truly gorgeous and impressive set of this complete edition of Descartes’ letters.

David Hume [1711-1776]

1748 “A New Plane of Lucid Philosophical Exposition”

Philosophical Essays Concerning Human Understanding, A. Millar, London, 1748. 1 blank leaf + TP + iii-iv = Contents + 1-256 + [257]- [260] = Publisher’s ads, 12 mo. First Edition. $10,000

One of the rarest of his works in first edition, Hume intended the Philosophical Essays (whose title was changed to An Enquiry concerning Human Understanding in the 1758 edition) to replace Book I of the Treatise of Human Nature. He published the Essays against the advice of Henry Home (Lord Kames), writing to Oswald, “Our friend Harry is against this, as indiscreet. But in the first place, I think I am too deep engaged to think of a retreat. In the second place, I see not what bad consequences follow, in the present age, from the character of an infidel; especially if a man’s conduct be in other respects irreproachable.” To Home himself he wrote, “I won’t justify the prudence of this step, any other way than by expressing my indifference about all the consequences that may follow”. The main point of dispute was that the volume contained the essay “Of Miracles”, which had been written nearly two years earlier, for inclusion in the Treatise but was suppressed by Hume on Home’s advice.

“In the Philosophical Essays Hume achieved a new plane of lucid philosophical exposition. Gone are the hesitations of the Treatise, the intricacies of detail, the tortured analysis – gone too, inevitably are some fine passages which had shown aspects of modern philosophy in the making, the autobiography, as it were, of a thinker in the act of thinking. The Philosophical Essays is a work of art, polished and impersonal.” (Mossner, p. 175)

Contemporary calf with double-ruled gilt borders on front and back covers. Rebacked with original spine and label laid down. Spine with five raised bands, with worn gilt devices in each compartment and red morocco label. Expert repairs to top and bottom of spine. Old armorial bookplate of William Charles De Meuron, Earl Firzwilliam to inside front cover. Lightly foxed in places. Overall, a lovely copy of this hard to find work by Hume.

1757 David Hume’s Last Philosophical Writings An Association Copy – Owned by His Friend, Alexander Carlyle

Four Dissertations. I. The Natural History of Religion. II. Of the Passions. III. Of Tragedy. IV. Of the Standard of Taste. Printed for A. Millar, London, 1757. Half title (with publisher’s ads on the verso) + TP + i-vii = Dedication + half title + [1]-240, 12mo. First Edition. $ 3,250

An interesting association copy, with the ownership signature of “Alex. Carlyle” on the inside of the front board (partially obscured by the remnants of the later bookplate of one ‘[Car]lyle Bell’). In addition, the ownership initials “AC” (in the same hand as the signature) are in the upper corner of the title page. Alexander Carlyle (1722-1805) was Hume’s good friend and a champion of the dedicatee’s play, Douglas.

This book has the most complicated printing history of any work by Hume and he had more trouble getting this book published than any of his other works excepting only the Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion.

On June 12, 1755, Hume originally offered four essays to Millar describing them as pieces “which I have kept some years by me, in order to polish them as much as possible.” The fourth dissertation was to be Some considerations previous to geometry and natural philosophy but, after criticism by Lord Stanhope, Hume withdrew that essay and replaced it with two on suicide and on the immortality of the soul. “When the printing was completed an access of prudence led him to withdraw these two, for which he substituted ‘Of the Standard of Taste.” (Jessop) Those two essays actually reached the proof stage before being suppressed and replaced by Of the Standard of Taste.

In addition, the book originally contained a dedication to the Reverend John Hume [or Home], the author of the tragic play, Douglas. Shortly after publication, the author asked (at the insistence of “some Fools” – Letters i.242-3) that the four-page dedication be removed. This was done for fear that the dedication would injure Reverend Hume’s reputation. Four days later, David Hume requested that it be reinstated – which it was, but in a slightly different position within the book. In the meantime, 800 copies had been sold without the dedication.

This copy includes the rare suppressed dedication in the original position and the half title with both ads as called for in Todd’s first state on the verso. Todd also notes two typographical errors that are sometimes found on pages 9 and 131. The page 9 typo (‘ative’) has not been corrected, but the page 131 error has been corrected to ‘lancing’

Contemporary full-leather boards. The book has a rebacked with a leather spine with five raised bands and a gilt title in the second compartment. With a partially removed contemporary owner’s bookplate to the inside front cover as mentioned above. Some brown offsetting to the preliminary leaves. Original binder’s end sheets are backed with tissue. In this copy, C12 (pp. 47-48) is a cancel and K4 (pp. 199-200) is followed by four stubs. Very minor, occasional foxing. Overall, a charming and lovely copy (even without the association to Hume).

1757, 1759 & 1762 A Complete First Edition Set of Hume’s Six-Volume History of England

The History of England [Great Britain] (in Six Volumes). Hamilton, Balfour, and Neill, Edinburgh, 1754, A. Millar, London, 1757, 1759 & 1762. First Editions of All Six Volumes. $ 8,700 Bound in chronological order – rather than the order in which they were published:

TITLES & PRINTING DATES:

Volume 1: The History of England from the Invasion of Julius Caesar to the Accession of Henry VII [Hume’s Vol. 1 – 1762] Volume 2: The History of England from the Invasion of Julius Caesar to the Accession of Henry VII [Hume’s Vol. 2 – 1762] Volume 3: The History of England under the House of Tudor [Hume’s Vol. 1 – 1759] Volume 4: The History of England under the House of Tudor [Hume’s Vol. 2 – 1759] Volume 5: The History of Great Britain: The Reigns of James I and Charles I [Hume’s Vol. 1 – 1754] Volume 6: The History of Great Britain: The Commonwealth and the Reigns of Charles II and James II [Hume’s Vol. 2 – 1757]

COLLATION OF EACH VOLUME:

Volume 1: 1 blank leaf + half-title + TP + [v]-viii = Contents + [1]-424, Quarto. Volume 2: 1 blank leaf + half-title + TP + [v]-viii = Contents + [1]-446 + [447] = Errata + 1 blank leaf, Quarto. Volume 3: Half-title + TP + [v]-viii = Contents + [1]-402 + 1 blank leaf, Quarto. Volume 4: 1 blank leaf + TP + [iii]-iv = Contents + [403]-739 + [740] = Publisher's ads, Quarto. Volume 5: 1 blank leaf + TP + [iii]-vi = Contents & Errata + [1]-473 + [474] = Publisher's ads + 1 blank leaf, Quarto. Volume 6: 1 blank leaf + TP + [i]-v = Contents + [1]-459 + [460] = Publisher's ads + 1 blank leaf, Quarto.

Hume’s great History of England – the theme of which is liberty – concentrates on the development of English constitutional law from the Anglo-Saxon period to the Revolution of 1688.

In Hume's lifetime, he was more famous as a historian than as a philosopher and this six-volume History of England continued to be a bestseller well into the nineteenth century and was the standard work on English history for many years.

During the Jacobite Rebellion of 1745, Hume tutored the Marquise of Annandale (who was officially described as a "lunatic") This engagement ended in disarray after about a year, but it was then that Hume started his great historical work The History of Great Britain which would take him over fifteen years and run to more than a million words.

In 1752, Hume was appointed librarian to the College of Advocates in Edinburgh. This provided him with tremendous resources and sufficient time and the opportunity to devote much of this time to the writing of this magnificent six-volume History of England. This work was not a new and independent interest of Hume's, rather, he saw it as a continuation of his other work, a "practical application" of his theses on politics.

Beautiful contemporary full calf bindings. Each spine with five ribs and gilt lettering and volume numbers in the second and third compartments. Front joints of Volumes 3 & 6 professionally reinforced. With the contemporary armorial bookplate of John Carre of Nisbet House, Berwickshire, Scotland in Volume 1 along with the bookplates of Lord Sinclair of Nisbet House and James Heron Watson in all six volumes. The only faults worthy of mention would be a 3” diagonal tear to the title page of Volume 3 and a wormhole to the rear three leaves of the same volume – not affecting the text. Overall, this is a truly beautiful set of books by the brilliant philosopher and popular historian, David Hume.

1775 A David Hume AUTOGRAPH

A mounted and framed slip of paper signed by David Hume. $ 3,000

Signed with a flourish and on a rising angle: “David Hume” below which the philosopher has written “1775” – which was the year before he died. Below this mounted slip of paper someone has written in a similarly fourishing hand: “David Hume – The Historian”.

Arthur Schopenhauer [1788-1860]

1813 A Lovely Association / Presentation Copy First Edition of Schopenhauer’s First Book – His Rarest Publication!

Ueber die vierfache Wurzel des Satzes vom zureichenden Grunde. Ein philosophische Abhandlung. (On the Fourfold Root of the Principle of Sufficient Reason. A philosophical dissertation), Hof-, Buch- und Kunsthandlung, Rudolstadt, 1813. TP + [1]-148, Octavo. First Edition, Association / Presentation Copy. $ 15,000

On the inside front cover is the inscription “R. Abeken Gesch(enk) des Verf(assers)” (R. Abeken, a Gift from the Author). Abeken was the rector of the Gymnasium in Rudolstadt (near Weimar) where Schopenhauer had retired so that he could write his dissertation in peace. (The remnants of French army retreating from Moscow had made life in Berlin intolerable.) Schopenhauer stayed in an inn at Rudolstadt from June to November of 1813 finishing this work and during that time, he befriended Abeken, presenting him with this copy once the book was printed.

Schopenhauer paid a local Rudolstadt printer to produce 500 copies of the work which, in general, went unnoticed and unsold. "There were three reviews of it, commending it condescendingly. Scarcely more than one hundred copies were sold, the rest was remaindered and, a few years later, pulped." (Rudiger Safranski, Schopenhauer and the Wild Years of Philosophy. Harvard University Press, 1990, p. 156)

Published thirty-one years before his masterwork Die Welt als Wille und Vorstellung, Schopenhauer always claimed that this book should serve as the proper prelude and introduction to that work. In 1847 he rewrote and enlarged The Fourfold Root, publishing a new edition and it is this newer version of the work that is read today.

In original wraps of blue-green card. The spine is 90% missing, exposing the book’s ties, but they are firm and holding. The rear cover is detached while the front cover is attached by a thread. Very light foxing. An unsophisticated, but very personal association copy of Schopenhauer’s rarest work.

1841 First Edition of Schopenhauer’s Two Competitive Essay Submissions

Die beiden Grundprobleme der Ethik, behandelt in zwei akademischen Preisschriften (The Two Fundamental Problems of Ethics, treated in two academic prize-winning essays), Joh. Christ. Hermann, Frankfurt am Main, 1841. TP + [III]-IV] = Inhalt + [V]-XXXX = Vorrede + half-title + [3]-278 + [279] = Judicium (Judgement) + [280] = Druckfehler (Corrections), Octavo. First Edition. $ 1,250

Arthur Schopenhauer's The Two Fundamental Problems of Ethics (1841) consists of two groundbreaking essays. The first essay, “Concerning the Freedom of Man’s Will” (Ueber die Freiheit des meschlichen willens) was awarded the prize by the Norwegian Royal Society of Science (“Wissenschaften”) in Drontheim on January 26, 1839. The second essay, “Concerning the Foundation of Morality” (Ueber das Fundament der Moral) was not awarded the prize by the Danish Royal Society of Science (“Wissenschaften”) in Copenhagen on January 30, 1840.

Both of these essays make original contributions to ethics and display Schopenhauer's erudition, prose-style and flair for philosophical controversy, as well as philosophical views that contrast sharply with the positions of both Kant and Nietzsche. This is Schopenhauer at his most accessible, offering two self-contained and clearly argued contributions to ethical theory.

In the first essay, he argues, in uniquely powerful prose, that self-consciousness gives the illusion of freedom and that human actions are determined, but that we rightly feel guilt because our actions issue from our essential individual character.

In the second essay, Schopenhauer locates moral value in the virtues of loving kindness and voluntary justice that spring from the fundamental incentive of compassion. Morality's basis is ultimately metaphysical, resting on an intuitive identification of the self with all other striving and suffering beings.

Contemporary half-leather boards (of speckled brown and tan) with gilt lettering on the spine. Both the title page and the text are unevenly foxed. Aside from that uneven foxing, this is a lovely copy.

1847 Second Edition of Schopenhauer’s First Book – in ORIGINAL WRAPS This Is The Definite Edition – Substantially Enlarged by Schopenhauer

Ueber die vierfache Wurzel des Satzes vom zureichenden Grunde. Ein philosophische Abhandlung. (On the Fourfold Root of the Principle of Sufficient Reason. A philosophical dissertation), Joh. Christ. Hermann’sche, Frankfurt am Main, 1847. [III]-VI = Vorrede + [VII] = Inhalt + [1]-151 + 1 foldout diagram, Octavo. Second Edition. $ 550

Schopenhauer’s first book, originally published in 1813 (see item above) was the printing of his doctoral dissertation which secured him his degree at Jena.

In 1847 he rewrote and enlarged The Fourfold Root, publishing a new edition and it is this newer version of the work that is read today.

Schopenhauer always claimed that this book should serve as the proper prelude and introduction to his masterwork Die Welt als Wille und Vorstellung.

Original printed wraps with black lettering on light green stock. The front wrap separated on the lower 4”. The spine is a bit worn and chipped (see photo), but overall a lovely copy of this definitive edition of one of Schopenhauer’s key works in remarkably well preserved original condition.

1851 The Book That Finally Made Schopenhauer Popular!

Parerga und Paralipomena: kleine philosophische Schriften (Appendices and Omissions: a small philosophical writing). Berlin: A. W. Hayn, 1851. Volume 1: TP + [i] = Inhalt + [iii]-[iv] = Vorwort + half-title + [3]-465 + [466] = Druchfehler; Volume 2: TP + [III]-IV = Inhalt + half-title + [3]-531; Octavo. First Edition. $ 3,400 This work, published in an edition of only 750 copies, is a significant supplement to The World as Will and Idea.

Parerga und Paralipomena (Greek for "Appendices" and "Omissions") is a collection of later philosophical reflections by Schopenhauer. The selection was compiled not as a summation of or introduction to his philosophy, but rather as supplementary readings for those who had already embraced it – although the author did maintain that it would still be comprehensible and of interest to the uninitiated.

The collection is divided into two volumes, covering first the parerga (Appendicies) and thereafter the paralipomena (Ommissions) to that philosophy. The parerga are six extended essays intended as supplementary to the author's thought. The paralipomena, short ruminations divided by topic into thirty-one subheadings, cover material hitherto unaddressed by the philosopher but deemed by him to be complementary to the parerga.

As a result of this book, especially the Aphorisms of Wisdom, Schopenhauer finally gained popularity in Germany as a philosopher.

The contents include: Fragments on the History of Philosophy, On Academic Philosophy, On Visions and Related Matters, On Logic and Dialectic, On the Philosophy of Science and Nature, On Suicide, On Women, and others.

Bound in the original printed wraps, but with new and unlettered spines. The front wrap of volume 1 has been expertly repaired in the lower right corner (not effecting text). On the upper edge of both front wraps, a former owner's name has been erased leaving a slightly lighter area there. Otherwise, this is a clean, fresh, bright and uncut copy in original wrappers. Overall, a very desirable copy.