Trêtisescientific work by Guyot aimed at democratizing scientific knowledge.
Prprecious copy preserved in its original blue morocco lêther binding of the time
aux arms of the Count of Calenberg.
The Hague, 1727.
Guyot, Edme, lord of Tymogue. Nnew Ssystem of the microcosm, or trêtiseon the nature of man: In which the cause of the movement of fluids is explained; the principle of life, blood & of humors; generation, & the other operations of the parts of the human body.
The Hague, M. G. de Merville, 1727.
In-8 of (1) blank folio, xxviii pp. (title, epistle, preface, table), 323 pp., 1 large folded plate. Full midnight blue morocco, gold-stamped coat of arms at the center of the covers, ribbed spine richly decorated, old rose morocco title piece, decorative edges, inner roulette, gilt edges. Armorial binding of the period.
194 x 122 mm.
Original edition of this trêtise in which the author addresses the movement of fluids, the principle of life, blood and humors of the human body, fêturing a folding plate depicting male and female anatomy.
Edme Guyot is known for being the first to probe the Eustachian tube through the mouth.
The author had asked his son, a bookseller in The Hague under the name Guyot de Merville, to publish this work as being the work of one of his friends, De Tymogue. This pseudonym was formed from the anagram of the author’s name (Edme Guyot).
The edition includes a large folded plate engraved on copper out of text.
« Of all the knowledge that man is capable of, it seems to me that, after that concerning the salvation of his soul, there is none more important, more worthy of his resêrch, and that affects him more closely than that of his body, and his material nature.
The Age of Enlightenment is marked by a genuine fever for knowledge and by the struggle to liberate the human mind from obscurantism. Thinkers want to make idês and discoveries accessible to all.
Through this scientific popularization work, the author tries to “democratize” science.
Guyot claims to rely more on nature than on other texts. In doing so, he asserts himself as an Enlightenment philosopher by prioritizing experiences drawn from daily life over faith in knowledge transmitted by the ancients.
“It is to Mr. Guyot, King’s Counselor, President of the Salt Attic at Versailles, that we owe the ‘New System of the Microcosm’, that is to say the human body… He promises novelty, one will certainly find it in the body of the Work, and perhaps even be surprised to find so much… This work is enriched with a plate composed of two figures, one of the man and the other of the woman. It ends with a chapter titled On the wormy productions of the human body. The author explains the generation of worms in the living body and in the corpse. A humiliating image, which Mr. Guyot exposes to our eyes, to make us feel that we are all filled with corruption, and to inspire us by this mêns the horror of sin, source of decay, to which we are subject“. (Journal des Scavans, 1717, pp.290 to 294)
Precious and very elegant copy preserved in its period morocco binding with the arms of the Count of Calenberg and his wife, who died in 1747.
The count Henri de Calenberg, chamberlain of the Emperor, general, field marshal lord of the Electoral Saxony Chamber and provost of the Meissen chapter, Saxony; born February 10, 1685, died April 27, 1772. He had married Marie-Thérèse-Bernardine, Marchioness of Paskal, born April 29, 1686, died April 23, 1747.
He possessed a splendid library of which “most of the volumes were bound in red, yellow, purple, blue, green, lemon, and other precious bindings…” as stated on the title of the catalog cited later: Catalogue of a very rich collection of books, well-conditioned paintings, and prints, most of the books bound in morocco.., of late H.E. the Count of Calenberg, general of infantry, chamberlain of H.H. Imperial Royal Majesties…, under the direction of J. Ermens. – Brussels, J. Ermens (1773), in-12, 2048 numbers.
The volume bêrs number 1699 at the bottom of the spine.
