In 4°(190x155). Occhietto, frontespizio con marca editoriale, 38 pagg. non num. , pagg. 302; grandi capilettera ornati incisi in legno. Decine tavv. (fra cui 22 a piena pagina) nel testo in silografia, riguardanti le teorie filosofiche e astronomiche dei tourbillons o vortici, ed altri studi di fisica a cui Cartesio si dedicò, come la composizione dell’interno della terra, la combustione e molti altri esperimenti. Piena pelle coeva con titolo su tassello in oro al dorso, dorso a scomparti con eleganti fregi a piccoli ferri. Seconda edizione latina della maggiore opera di Descartes, usualmente rilegata insieme alla “Dissertatio de metodo” ed al “Tractatus de passionibus anima”; la nostra copia contiene solo i Principia, che Cartesio, dopo la condanna del 1633 di Galileo, decise di non publicare: "The work was based on Descartes then unpublished work Le Monde, which treated the creation and function of the universe in completely mechanistic terms; Descartes suppressed this work after the condemnation of Galileo in 1633, and was careful in the Principia to qualify his mechanistic Copernican views with the idea that all motion is relative. His vortical theory allowed him to argue that since the earth is at rest in its surrounding medium it remains unmoved, although it, together with its entire vortex, necessarily circles the sun. Although Descartes's system was ultimately superseded by that of Newton, it represents the first truly comprehensive look at the universe in a fundamentally new, mechanistic, and non-theological way. " (Norman Cat.). L’opera si divide in quattro parti: “Descartes' Principia is divided into four parts. In the first, Descartes elaborates on the principles of human knowledge already developed in his great Discourse on Method (1607). The second part deals with the principles of material things and the laws of motion. In the third section, Descartes introduces his famed theory of vortices to explain the motion of celestial bodies, a concept by which he attempted to reconcile Copernican astronomy (rejected in name but retained in substance) with biblical teaching. The final part of Principia contains his views on the origin of the earth, and discusses such phenomena as heat, light, gravity, electricity, and magnetism, and presents the first scientific theory of magnetism." (PMM 129). Bell’esemplare, fresco ben conservato. Presenta lieve saltuario alone al margine inf. Timbrino di appartenenza all’occhietto.