The Correspondence of Rene´ Descartes 1643 edited by THEO VERBEEK ERIK-JAN BOS JEROEN VAN DE VEN with contributions of Henk Bos Carla Rita Palmerino Corinna Vermeulen Quaestiones Infinitae Publications of the Department of Philosophy Utrecht University Volume XLV Zeno Institute for Philosophy The Leiden–Utrecht Research Institute Heidelberglaan 8 3584 CS Utrecht The Netherlands c 2003, Th. Verbeek, E.-J. Bos, J.M.M. van de Ven All rights reserved. ISBN 90-393-3583-0 (ISSN 0927-3395) PREFACE There is little disagreement that the standard edition of Descartes by Charles Adam and Paul Tannery (known as AT) should be redone, in any case as far as the correspondence is concerned. The reason is not only that its chronology is defective and that in its latest reprint the edition is difficult to handle even for expert readers, but also that, after more than hundred years, the problems raised by the correspondence deserve a fresh examination. A grant by the Netherlands Organisation of scientific Research (NWO), ‘Towards a new critical edition of Descartes’, allowed me, not only to direct three Ph.D. theses (on Descartes’ cor- respondence with Regius by Erik-Jan Bos, on the Latin translation of the Dis- cours and the ‘essais’ by Corinna Vermeulen and on the publication history of Descartes’ works in the 17th century by Matthijs van Otegem), which can be seen as pilot studies for any new edition of Descartes’ works, but more specifically to lay the foundations for a new critical edition of Descartes’ correspondence. Together with Erik-Jan Bos, Matthijs van Otegem and Corinna Vermeulen and helped by an assistant (Hanneke Wit, Hans Diepenveen, Roeland Roelofs and Maarten van Houte successively) we worked through the correspondence, start- ing with vol. 1 of AT, noting our remarks, questions, our findings and amassing a vast amount of data, which were consigned to a data-base. In 2002 a grant of my department allowed me to continue this work with two post-docs, Erik-Jan Bos and Jeroen van de Ven. Another Ph.D. student, Mark Aalderink, joined the group in October 2003. Drawing on what was achieved during all those years, we now present as a first specimen an edition of the correspondence of the year 1643, meant, not only to show that we can make a difference, but also to see whether the format we have chosen is the right one. The year 1643 was chosen first of all because it is highly representative of Descartes’ correspondence as a whole. It comprises letters written in French, Latin and even Dutch. The material on which the edition is based consists of all kinds of sources: autograph letters, manuscript copies, minutes printed by Clerselier and abstracts published by Baillet. It is also a very interesting year in Descartes’ life, situated as it is between the publication of his two main works, the Meditationes (1641) and the Principia (1644). It is also a year of much agita- tion. The Utrecht Crisis, which seemed to be buried with the Judgment of March 1642 was reanimated by Descartes in his Epistola ad Dinetum, published as an appendix to the second edition of the Meditations (Amsterdam: Elzevier, 1642), which in turn led to new developments in Utrecht, culminating with the publi- cation of Admiranda methodus (1643) by Martinus Schoock, closely followed by Descartes’ own Epistola ad Voetium. Finally, in the correspondence of that year Descartes deals with a great variety of subjects, philosophical, medical, physical and mathematical. The present edition is typically the work of a team. Even so, each of the team had his/her own responsibility. The introduction was written by Erik-Jan Bos and me. The edition of the letters was largely done by Erik-Jan Bos, with for v some letters the help of Corinna Vermeulen (Letters 15, 25, 26, 33, 34, 39). My colleagues Henk Bos (Utrecht University, history of mathematics) and Carla Rita Palmerino (Radboud University, Nijmegen, history of physics) made important contributions to the commentary of Letters 4, 9, 11, 12, 13, 16, 17, 21, 22, 58, 59, 61. Henk Bos also wrote Appendix 3. The biographical lexicon was compiled by Jeroen van de Ven. Technical help was provided by Xander Schrijen. Apart from bearing the final responsibility for the whole, I wrote and compiled the calendar and appendices 1 and 2. Utrecht, December 2003 Theo Verbeek ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS For permission to publish the texts of the letters we are grateful to the institu- tions listed on p. xxxi. In particular we would like to thank Caroline Cheva- lier (Uppsala University Library), Jorien Jas (Stichting Vrienden der Gelder- sche Kasteelen), Johan Carel Bierens de Haan (Stichting Vrienden der Gelder- sche Kasteelen), Anton van de Lem (Leiden University Library), Leo Houzi- aux (Secretaire´ perpetuel,´ Academie´ Royale de Belgique), Jean-Luc De Paepe (Academie´ Royale de Belgique), Catherine De Boel (Bibliotheque` municipale, Lille), Hel´ ene` Carrere` d’Encausse (Secretaire´ perpetuel,´ Academie´ franc¸aise), and Mireille Pastoureau (Institut de France). During our preparations we re- ceived the kind assistance of many persons, and we would like to mention specifi- cally Barbara Roth (Bibliotheque` publique et universitaire, Geneva), B.C.M. van Erp-Jacobs (Tilburg University), Kees Schilt, Doris Klein (Bonn University) and Alain Moirandat (Moirandat Company AG, Basel). vi TABLE OF CONTENTS Preface v Acknowledgements vi Table of Contents vii Abbreviations viii Introduction ix The Leiden Suitcase xi The Stockholm Inventory xvi Lettres de Monsieur Descartes (1657–1667) xxi Renati Descartes Epistolae (1668) xxiii La Vie de Mr Des-Cartes (1691) xxiv The present edition xxvii New sources and texts, new dates and rejected letters xxvii Annotation xxix Manuscript sources xxxi Description of the main collections xxxii The La Hire Collection xxxii The Van Pallandt Collection (Arnhem) xxxii Provenance xxxiv Editorial methods xxxvi Choice of copy text xxxvi Presentation of the letters xxxvii Principles of transcription xxxviii Critical apparatus xl Sigla xl The Correspondence of Descartes: 1643 1 Appendices 183 1. The Utrecht Crisis 183 2. The ‘Illustrious Brotherhood of Our Blessed Lady’ in ’s-Hertogenbosch 193 3. Descartes, Elizabeth and Apollonius’ Problem 202 Calendar of Descartes’ life for 1643 213 Biographical Lexicon 235 Concordance with AT 315 Index of Letters 317 Index of Names 319 vii ABBREVIATIONS Editions of Descartes’ works and correspondence AM R. Descartes, Correspondance, eds. Ch. Adam and G. Milhaud, 8 vols. (Paris: Alcan/PUF, 1936–1963). AT Œuvres de Descartes, eds. Ch. Adam and P. Tannery, 11 vols. (Paris: Cerf, 1897–1913. New edition. Paris: Vrin, 1964–1971. Reprint. Paris: Vrin, 1996). Baillet A. Baillet, La vie de Monsieur Des-Cartes, 2 vols. (Paris: Horthemels, 1691). Bos The Correspondence between Descartes and Regius, ed. E.-J. Bos, Ph.D. Diss. Utrecht, 2002. Cle Lettres de Mr Descartes, ed. Cl. Clerselier, 3 vols. (Paris: Angot, 1657–1667). CM Correspondance du P. Marin Mersenne, religieux minime, eds. C. de Waard, P. Tannery and A. Beaulieu, 17 vols. (Paris: PUF/CNRS, 1945–1986). Querelle Descartes/Schoock, La Querelle d’Utrecht, ed. Th. Verbeek (Paris: Les impres- sions nouvelles, 1988). Roth Correspondence of Descartes and Huygens 1635–1647, ed. L. Roth (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1926). Reference works Aengevangen procedueren — [P. Voet], Aengevangen procedueren tot Wtrecht tegens Renatus Des Cartes ter oorsaecke van twee sijne Diffamatoire gheschriften of fameuse libellen. Vergadert door een liefhebber der Waerheydt (Utrecht: Strick, [1644]). Duker, Gisbertus Voetius — A.C. Duker, Gisbertus Voetius, 4 vols. (Leiden: Brill, 1897–1915. Reprint. Leiden: Groen, 1989). Van Dijck, Bossche optimaten — G. van Dijck, De Bossche optimaten. Geschiedenis van de Illustere Lieve Vrouwebroederschap te ’s-Hertogenbosch, 1318–1973 (Tilburg: Stichting Zuidelijk Historisch Contact, 1973). Kernkamp — G.W. Kernkamp (ed.), Acta et decreta senatus. Vroedschapsresolutien¨ en andere bescheiden betreffende de Utrechtsche Academie, 3 vols. (Utrecht: Broekhoff, 1936– 1940). Grotius, Briefwisseling — H. Grotius, Briefwisseling, eds. P.C. Molhuysen, et al. (The Hague: Nijhoff (vols. 1–11)/Van Gorcum (vol. 12), 1928–2001). Huygens, Briefwisseling — C. Huygens, Briefwisseling (1608–1687), ed. J.A. Worp, 6 vols. (The Hague: Nijhoff, 1911–1917). Huygens, Dagboek — C. Huygens, Dagboek, ed. J.H.W. Unger (Amsterdam: Binger, 1885). Livre synodal — Livre synodal contenant les articles resolus´ dans les synodes des eglises´ wal- lonnes des Pays-Bas (The Hague: Nijhoff, 1896). Nauta, Maresius — D. Nauta, Samuel Maresius (Amsterdam: Paris, 1935). NNBW — Nieuw Nederlandsch Biografisch Woordenboek, ed. P.C. Molhuysen, et al., 10 vols. (Leiden: Sijthoff, 1911–1937). Van Otegem — M. van Otegem, A bibliography of the works of Descartes (1637–1704), 2 vols., Ph.D. Diss. Utrecht, 2002. Testimonium — Testimonium Academiae Ultrajectinae, et Narratio Historica (Utrecht: Strick, 1643). Verbeek, Descartes and the Dutch — Th. Verbeek, Descartes and the Dutch. Early reactions to Cartesian philosophy (Carbondale–Edwardsville: Southern Illinois U.P., 1992). Voetius, Disputationes theol. sel. — G. Voetius, Disputationes theologicae selectae, 5 vols. (Utrecht–Amsterdam, 1648–1669). Other abbreviations Contributors BnF Bibliotheque` nationale de France, Paris CRP Carla Rita Palmerino ALS autograph letter signed HB Henk Bos viii INTRODUCTION The first modern editor of Descartes’ correspondence was Victor Cousin (1792– 1869), in whose general edition in 11 volumes (Paris: Levrault, 1824–1826)