Aristotle Philosophy Manuscript, 900 Pages—17th Century, From The Collection Of Charles Bouvard, Physician To The King

Exceptional philosophical manuscript written entirely in Latin, comprising nearly 900 handwritten pages and bringing together, in a single volume, six treatises devoted to Aristotelian philosophy and its principal commentaries.

The manuscript is entirely written in ink in small script and is enriched with numerous original drawings and diagrams (approximately 15), some executed directly within the text, others gathered on bound plates.

The manuscript appears to date from the 17th century, although a slightly earlier date, toward the end of the 16th century, cannot be ruled out. A handwritten note dated January 30, 1626, placed at the beginning of the volume, provides a particularly valuable clue regarding its early history. It reads:

“Le 30 Janvier 1626 je suis cusé chés Mre. Bouvar Dot”

(“On January 30, 1626, I am put away [stored/kept] at Master Bouvard’s, Doctor.”)

This inscription makes it reasonable to seriously consider a provenance associated with Charles Bouvard (1572–1658), physician, professor at the Collège Royal, chemist, and later First Physician to King Louis XIII. Bouvard was appointed professor at the Collège Royal in 1625 and First Physician to the King in 1627/1628; he also became superintendent of the Royal Garden of Medicinal Plants.

The chronological proximity between the 1626 inscription and Bouvard’s career makes this hypothesis particularly noteworthy: at that time, the manuscript appears to have been in the library or possession of a “Master Bouvard, Doctor,” at a date when Charles Bouvard was precisely teaching at the Collège Royal.

Concise Guide to Peripatetic Philosophy – 18 chapters, 79 pages.

A general introduction to Aristotelian thought and the Peripatetic philosophical method. This first section constitutes a genuine gateway to the study of the various philosophical disciplines developed in the treatises that follow.

The Isagoge, or Introduction, is the celebrated work of Porphyry of Tyre, a Late Antique Neoplatonist philosopher, devoted to introducing Aristotle’s Categories. It played a fundamental role in the medieval and early modern teaching of logic and Aristotelian philosophy.

On the Physics – 185 pages.

A section devoted to Aristotle’s Physics and to the study of the principles of nature. The text addresses the foundations of Aristotelian natural philosophy and prepares the reader for the study of the books dealing with motion, change, time, and causes.

On the Heavens – 324 pages.

The largest section of the manuscript. It is devoted to Aristotle’s four books of De Caelo, which deal with the constitution of the world, the celestial bodies, the elements, and the organization of the cosmos according to Aristotelian physics.

Preliminaries to Metaphysics – 20 pages.

A short preparatory section for the study of Aristotelian metaphysics. It brings together introductory considerations intended to lead the reader toward the study of being, first principles, and first causes.

Preparatory Exercises for the Books of Ethics – 84 pages.

A section devoted to the Nicomachean Ethics, dealing with the foundations of Aristotle’s moral philosophy: virtue, human action, the good, and the pursuit of the good life.

This manuscript thus offers a particularly comprehensive panorama of Aristotelian philosophy as it was studied and transmitted in the early modern period, ranging from logic and the introduction to philosophy through physics, cosmology, metaphysics, and ethics.

Its importance is further enhanced by its entirely handwritten nature, its exceptional extent—nearly 900 pages—as well as the presence of numerous original diagrams, figures, and drawings, presumably testifying to its use for study, teaching, or scholarly compilation.

The volume also bears an ex-libris from the former collection of Jacques-Hervé Gautier, accompanied by the Latin motto:

“Intra Nomen Regnum Iehovah”

(“Within the Name is the reign of Jehovah.”)

A manuscript of great rarity, bringing together ancient philosophy, the Peripatetic tradition, and the learned culture of the 17th century, whose remarkable early provenance may connect it to Charles Bouvard, a major figure in medicine and scholarship under Louis XIII.

Dimensions: 17 × 23 cm

Price exclusive of shipping costs

Police Register Reference: A209

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