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Astrology and humors in the theory of man: the works of Marin Cureau de la Chamber and their importance in the cultural evolution of the seventeenth century Item Type text; Dissertation-Reproduction (electronic) Authors Eckhert, Mary Ellen, 1944- Publisher The University of Arizona. Rights Copyright © is held by the author. Digital access to this material is made possible by the University Libraries, University of Arizona. Further transmission, reproduction or presentation (such as public display or performance) of protected items is prohibited except with permission of the author. Download date 23/09/2021 10:21:59 Link to Item http://hdl.handle.net/10150/565329 ASTROLOGY AND HUMORS IN THE THEORY OF MAN: THE WORKS OF MARIN CUREAU DE LA CHAMBRE AND THEIR IMPORTANCE IN THE CULTURAL EVOLUTION OF THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY by Mary Ellen Eckhert A Dissertation Submitted to the Faculty of the DEPARTMENT OF ROMANCE LANGUAGES In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements For the Degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY WITH A MAJOR IN FRENCH In the Graduate College THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA 1975 THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA GRADUATE COLLEGE I hereby recommend that this dissertation prepared under my direction by Mary Ellen Eckhert_________________________ . entitled Astrology and Humors in the Theory of Man: The Works of Marin Cureau de La Chambre and Their Importance in the Cultural Evolution of the Seventeenth Century_____ be accepted as fulfilling the dissertation requirement of the degree o f _____ Doctor of Philosophy___________________________ I %, fi >4 Disserta. Datp Date After inspection of the final copy of the dissertation, the following members of the Final Examination Committee concur in its approval and recommend I its acceptance This approval and acceptance is contingent on the candidate's adequate performance and defense of this dissertation at the final oral examination. The inclusion of this sheet bound into the library copy of the dissertation is evidence of satisfactory performance at the final examination. STATEMENT BY AUTHOR This dissertation has been submitted in partial fulfillment of requirements for an advanced degree at The University of Arizona and is deposited in the University Library to be made available to bor­ rowers under rules of the Library. Brief quotations from this dissertation are allowable without special permission, provided that accurate acknowledgment of source is made. Requests for permission for extended quotation from or reproduction of this manuscript in whole or in part may be granted by the copyright holder. SIGNED: 0 COPYRIGHTED BY MARY ELLEN. ECKHERT 1975 iii PREFACE During the time I have spent researching the life and works of Marin Cureau de La Chambre, it has "become a game for me to mention the name to colleagues in French literature and observe the reaction— usual­ ly a blank stare! Not that this response surprised me; in fact, it was rather comforting to witness the echo of my own ignorance upon hearing that name for the first time as a third-year graduate student. Looking back now, it is difficult to imagine never having come across the name of a man so widely admired and respected as a physician, counselor, and friend by the most influential figures in seventeenth- century France: Richelieu, Mazarin, Seguier, Foucquet, even Louis XIV himself. Charter member of both the French Academy and Colbert's Academy of Sciences, author of about a dozen major works including a five-volume study of the passions and an "art" of knowing men, and frequent guest at the most illustrious salons of his time, Marin Cureau de La Chambre was by no means an unfamiliar person among the intellectual elite of Paris. Yet it is not really so surprising that the glorious reputation he enjoyed during his thirty-five years as a man of science and of letters did not outlive him. The theories he formulated and sub­ sequently defended fall'into the rather nondescript category of "Peri- patetism" included under the more general heading of "Traditionalism." As we know, historians have normally reserved such labels for thinkers V whose ideas ostensibly fail to reflect the modernist tendencies of the period in question. In one sense, history has not been unjust in its neglect of Cureau de La Chambre. After all, what turns out to be the most striking aspect of his work is its rather eclectic character conditioned by the author's obvious desire to provide a philosophical framework for his scientific inquiry. But by another token, if history's aim is to go beyond the superficial goal of explaining the present through the reading of past situations— if, in fact, it means to live up to its noblest purpose, which is to reacnstrust the past in order to understand how we as a civilization have come to where we now find ourselves— -then it behooves the historian to permit men like Cureau de La Chambre to help in that endeavor by providing what the men of commanding genius in each age often appear to transcend; the complexity of life as it really was for men of other times and of other places. It is with these thoughts in mind that I have chosen as the central theme of this study the role of La Chambre‘s theory of man as it applies to the cultural evolution of the seventeenth century. To facilitate acquaintance with the author for those who are unfamiliar with his works, the first part of the discussion focuses on La Chambre !s life and relations with the intellectual milieu. The reader will note that there is a separate section in the bibliography which lists critical studies and editions which mention La Chambre and which may be useful for further study of him. Part II presents the theory of man in terms of methodology prescribed and structures involved vi in La Chaznbre1 s analysis. Part III contains two chapters which attempt to situate the author's ideas first with respect to the scientific movement, and then with respect to the literary quest for a new brand of moral philosophy. The last chapter of Part III provides a resume of the major problems discussed in the course of the entire dissertation followed by a listing of the conclusions that may be drawn from these problems in view of understanding moralist literature of the seventeenth century. Because of the difficulty involved in obtaining copies of La Chambre's works in American libraries, I have tried to document inter­ pretations of the author's ideas with numerous and often extensive quotations from the texts. For the most part * the cited material is taken from the earliest printing of the work available (see Appendix). However, for precise information regarding the sources to which abbrevia­ tions and page numbers included in the text correspond, a separate listing of La Chambre's works used in this study is provided in the first section of the bibliography. For the sake of simplicity, I have chosen to present all quoted material exactly as it appears in the edition from which it was extracted. As readers familiar with seventeenth-century orthography and diacritical markings know, there is a great deal of variation in standard spellings as well as in the placement of accents. Thus, I have restricted the use of sic to instances where La Chambre fails to follow his own conventions, or where no such spelling or grammatical construction would be possible by seventeenth-century standards. \ - vii In closing, I would like to express my deep appreciation to those persons who have shared in the planning and preparation of this project. First of all, I am particularly grateful to my dissertation advisor, Edouard Morot-Sir, of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, for the careful guidance and direction he has given me throughout the many stages of my work. Not only have his comments, criticisms, and suggestions continually fortified me with new ideas and approaches for the organization and development of each chapter; his support and per­ sonal intervention in cases where I was faced with difficulty in ob­ taining microfilms of essential works from libraries in Paris was in­ strumental in securing some of the necessary tools for this study. Next, I owe very special thanks to my graduate professor and co-director of this dissertation, .Charles I. Rosenberg, of The Uni­ versity of Arizona, who agreed to act as co-director of my work after Professor Morot-SirVs departure. In his courses and seminars, I found his approach to the study of texts taken from many different literary periods both refreshing and stimulating. Under his tutelage, I gained confidence in my ability to read and analyze material the ostensibly difficult character of which would previously have sent me directly to the critics. Finally, I would like to thank personally just a few of the many people at Arizona, Cornell University, and Ithaca College who have aided me in so many different ways: to Professors Henri Servin and Inge Kohn, for agreeing to serve on my committee of readers; to my former professor, Jacques Roger, of the Sorbonne and visiting professor viii to Cornell during the fall of 1973$ for his support and inspiration at various points in the preparation of this dissertation; to my friend end colleague Frangoise Gebhart of Ithaca College, for proofreading the manuscripts of each chapter; and to my typist Dorothy Owens, for her beyond-the-call-of-duty advice and efforts in preparing the final copy. Lastly, I should like to thank my husband Curtis, for the love and patience so often expressed in the form of late-night discussions that helped to bring my understanding of scientific concepts into sharper focus. TABLE OF CONTENTS Page - LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS .........

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