DESCARTES, Rene. Les passions de l'âme.
Amsterdam, Elzevier, 1650
First edition, published the year after the first edition, and in the same year as the author's death. It is the last work written by Descartes, born from the correspondence that the philosopher had with the Princess of Bohemia Elizabeth. The passions of the soul is not a treatise on ethics, but is mainly dedicated to the mutual influence that exists between the soul and the body, and it is precisely by dealing with the psycho-physiological mechanisms that concern the mind-body relationship that Descartes also exhibits his theory on the pineal gland or the place where the two substances meet. The work had great influence on several thinkers, such as Robert Hooke, Giovanni Borelli, Jan Swammerdam and Thomas Willis.
Rahir 1116; Willems 1 104. Heirs of Hippocrates 291.
12mo. 130x75mm. Contemporary stiff vellum binding, yapp edges, handwritten title on the spine. Pages. [xlviii], 272, [14, index]. Printer's device on title page, device adorned with initials E I D at the end. Slight traces of use and some stains, unsophisticated copy.