Descartes: A Biography

end CUNYB/Clarke     December, :

Notes to Pages– 

I did not want to see the translation by Van Schooten, although he wanted me to

do so. For, if I began to correct it, I could not have prevented myself from making

it clearer than it is at present, which is something that I do not wish to do. Since

VanSchooten is not skilled in Latin, I am certain that his translation will be rather

obscure and that it will possibly include equivocations which will provide a pretext

forquibbling to those who look for it. However, I cannot be held responsible, since

his Latin is not at all similar to mine’ (v.). In the course of writing about this

stategy to Mersenne, Descartes had referred to his critics, including Roberval, as

‘monsters’.

.Descartes to Chanut,March(v.).

.Descartes wrote two interdependent letters to Picot onAugust.Inone of

them, he advised Picot of the complex arrangements he had made about repaying

his debts to Anthony Studler van Zurck (?–), who had acted as an infor-

mal banker for Descartes. Picot was asked to realize the money from Descartes’

properties in France and to pay Van Zurck directly. However, if that failed and

if the property was about to be inherited by Descartes’ family, he provided Van

Zurck with another letter that could then be used to make a claim against his estate.

.Descartes to Picot,August(v.). Cf. his final adieu to Beeckman,

April:‘Idonot want to lose any opportunity of writing to you, to show

myaffection for you and to show that my memory of you cannot be erased by any

of the distractions that occur during my travels’ (x.).

.Baillet (), ii..

.Descartes to Elizabeth,October(v.), where he tells her that he had

arrived four or five days before. During this interval, Carcavi wrote again, men-

tioning that people in Paris did not know whether he was in Egmond or in Sweden.

Carcavi to Descartes,September(v.).

.Descartes to Clerselier,November(v.).

.When Baillet was writing his life of Descartes, which he claimed to have completed

in one year, one of Chanut’s sons, Martial, was Visitor General of the Carmelites

and was based at Issoire, while the second son, Hector, had died as counsellor in

the Grand Conseil. Baillet (), ii..

.Descartes to Elizabeth,October(v.).

.Elizabeth to Descartes,December(v.).

.Descartes to Picot,October(v.–).

.Pascal wrote in the Appendix to theedition of theTraitez de l’Equilibre des

liqueurs et de la pesanteur de la masse de l’airabout his request to Chanut in:

‘I also was honoured to write to Mr. Chanut...who was then Ambassador to

Sweden, who favoured me by agreeing to my request to send me in parallel the

observations made by himself and Mr. Descartes at Stockholm, fromOctober

toSeptember,asIalso sent him mine’ (quoted in v.).

.Brasset to Descartes,November(v.). See also Descartes to Picot,

December(v.).

.Descartes to Picot,December(v.). ‘To enable you to write to me more

freely, there will be no need to name him in your letter, because I shall understand