TOURNEMINE (René-Joseph de). ESSAY DE LA SCIENCE UNIVERSELLE - Lot 133

TOURNEMINE (René-Joseph de). ESSAY DE LA SCIENCE UNIVERSELLE where the general principles of all sciences and the best (sic) way to learn them are discussed. 1693. Very legible manuscript of 2-335 pages, in-8, stiff vellum (period binding). The Jesuit Father de Tournemine (1661-1739), who edited the famous Mémoires de Trévoux, was in charge of the library at the Collège Louis-le-Grand, where he made friends with two brilliant pupils: Voltaire and Fontenelle. This manuscript is certainly unpublished, as the author of a handwritten note by autograph collector M. de Villenave notes Father Tournemine warns in his preface: "If this treatise does not make you very skilful, it will at least give you the means to become so,... several things that you will find nowhere else together, and I can even say that there are certain things that I owe to no one...". A very good copy.