end CUNYB/Clarke December, :
Notes to Pages– .Regius to Descartes [early February]: ‘I hope to avail of your permission
during this week, which concludes our vacation....I will spend two or three days
in your company, to consult you about various plans that I have’ (ii.).
.Regius and Aemilius to Descartes,March(ii.–). Aemilius published
a book of orations in,inwhich he dedicated a poem to Reneri as follows: ‘To
the shades of Henricus Reneri, Professor of Philosophy at Utrecht University, who
lived intimately with the most noble man, Rene Descartes, the Atlas and unique ́
Archimedes of our time, from whom he learned to penetrate the secrets of nature
and the limits of the heavens.’ Aemilius (),. The poem and oration had
been printed together in.
.Letter to Descartes, reported by Baillet (), ii.. Erik-Jan Bos (Regius:
)suggests that this letter was probably written in the first half of September,
since Regius’ son was bornSeptember and died three days later.
.It was established as an ‘Illustrious School’ onAugustand as a university
onMarch.
.In Regius (: xxxiii), Bos corrects Clerselier’s mistake of identifying ‘Mr. R.’
as Regius rather than Reneri.
.Descartes to Mersenne,January(ii.). Descartes’ estimate was accurate.
There was a Latin edition of the book (apart from theGeometry), under the title
Specimina Philosophiae,in, and a French edition of the same selected texts
appeared only in.For a full history of its publication, see Van Otegem (),
i.–.
.Descartes to Mersenne,February(ii.).
.Descartes to Huygens, December(ii.), where he explained that Thomas
Harriot’s book had fallen behind the few books he kept in his study and that it had
lain there hidden from view for six months.
.Mersenne sent a copy of the French edition of Edward Herbert’s bookOn Truth,
butDescartes could not find time to read it (Descartes to Mersenne,August
). He describes himself, on that occasion, as studying ‘without a book’ (ii.).
Three months later he says that he could not hope to read Bouillau’sPhilolai
sive dissertationis de vero systemate mundi, libri iv()for another six months
(Descartes to Mersenne,November: ii.), although he had said the
previous December that he wanted to read it ‘as soon as it is published’ (Descartes
to Mersenne, December: ii.). He declined to read Campanella (Descartes
to Mersenne,November: ii.) and Fermat (Descartes to Mersenne,
February: ii.).
.Cf. Descartes to Mersenne,May:‘Inolonger wish to study that science’
(ii.); and Descartes to Mersenne,September: ‘However, please do not
expect anything else from me in geometry. For you know that for a long time I
have protested that I do not wish to exercise it and I think I can honestly put an
end to it’ (ii.–). Even as early as December (?), Descartes had written
similar comments to Stampioen (i.).
.Descartes to Huygens,October(i.).
.Letter published in Jurgens and Mesnard ().