In-folio (24,8 x 18,2 cm), 196 ff, title in a woodcut border, numerous woodcuts. Lacking f. 60 (with a full-page woodcut, supplied in xerox) Illustrated with numerous small and 2 full-page engravings representing a tree of knowledge as well as Fortune and Wisdom (f. 115v). Some woodcut crudely hand-coloured in purple. Two lvs. cancelled between ff. 66-67. Condition: marginal stains on f. 100 and 101, stains on f. 132, margin cut from f. 167. Ms. ex libris on title page erased. Later calf binding, with restorations on corners and ends of spine
A rare work dealing with philosophy, medicine, and mathematics, it represents a major contribution to the philosophical thought of the Renaissance. The Liber de sapiente (The Book on the Sage) is important to intellectual history because it exemplifies the transition between Medieval and Renaissance thinking. A reprint has been published in 1970.
Ref. Adams, B-2623; Thorndike, VI, pp. 438-443 ; BP16 _101472 About the author: Charles de Bovelles (ca. 1470 - ca. 1553) studied arithmetic under Jacques Lefèvre d'Étaples. He published the first scientific work printed in French (Géométrie en françoys). He was perhaps the most remarkable French thinker of the 16th century.
Ref. Tamara Albertini in: Intellectual History Review (2011): Charles de Bovelles' enigmatic Liber de Sapiente: a heroic notion of wisdom. ""To the Greek question 'What is the excellence of man?', Bovelles answers: living up to one's full potential by continuously examining one's knowledge and one's Self. This for the French philosopher is the mark of wisdom - a human being's highest possible performance
