In-folio (26,3 x 19 cm), 196 [= 198] ff, title in a woodcut border, numerous woodcuts. The three full-page engravings represent a tree of knowledge, a student (f. 60v, entitled Studiosus Palestrites) as well as Fortune and Wisdom (f. 115v). Two lvs. cancelled between ff. 68-69, but complete. 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. Bound with 4 other books: 2) Johannes (aus Lisieux). Commentacio Arithmetice communis. [Leipzig, Martin Landsberg, 1503]. xii ff. Latin text in two columns, in gothic script. Ref. VD16 ZV 8711. 3) Gaspar LAX. Arithmetica Speculativa. Paris, Nicolas de la Barre, 1515. [94] ff. Title printed in red and black in a rich decorative woodcut border, woodcut printer's device (Hémon Le Fèvre) Marginal annotations. Ref. Adams L-325 ; Moreau II 1153. 4) Gaspar LAX. Proportiones. Paris, Nicolas de la Barre, 1515. [26] ff, identical woodcut border as in previous title. Ref. Adams L-330 ; Moreau II 1154. 5) PAULUS Venetus. Habes librum maximum de compositione mundi. Paris, Thomas Kees, 1510. 18 ff, beautiful woodcut printer's mark with the Maiden of Ghent. The text is edited by Jan DULLAERT, of Ghent. Richly illustrated with astronomical woodcuts. Very small marginal wormholes and a few pale damp stains. Ref. Adams P-511 ; Moreau I 379. Contemporary half pigskin binding of wooden boards, blind-tooling, traces of clasps, title on upper board: Arithmetica, MDXXIX, title on spine: Bovilii Opus mathematicum
Provenance:
Liechtenstein library with bookplate and small stamp at foot of first title ; the Horblit copy with booklabel (1974) ; The Hoyeman Collection part I (1978). About the authors: 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. Gaspar Lax (1487-1560), Spanish mathematician, logician and philosopher who spent much of his career in Paris. Jan Dullaert of Ghent (c. 1480 - 1513) was a Flemish philosopher and logician who lived in France as an Augustinian friar. As a teacher, he influenced many scholars of the period including Gaspar Lax, Juan de Celaya and Juan Luis Vives. 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
