Descartes's Correspondence
This page opens an exploratory section of the collection. It aims to expand the initial focus on cosmological illustrations in Descartes's works to the general use of images in all his writings. We collect Cartesian illustrations, as they appear in early modern prints. The first case is represented by three sets of images included in Descartes's correspondence, which was published in Paris by Claude Clerselier between 1657 and 1667. Only some of the images are related to cosmology, others are mathematical diagrams, representations of corpusclues or drawings related to mechanical problems.
For more informations about Descartes's Lettres, see the "The Correspondence of René Descartes" entry on the Early Modern Letters Online platform (http://emlo.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/home).
Sources included here are as follows:
- Lettres de M. Descartes, vol. I (Paris, Charles Angot, 1657) on Gallica.
- Lettres de M. Descartes, vol. II (Paris, Charles Angot, 1659) on Gallica.
- Lettres de M. Descartes, vol. III (Paris, Charles Angot, 1667) on Gallica.
[This collection is still in development]
Lettres de M. Descartes, vol. I (1657):
Lettres de M. Descartes, vol. II (1659):
