Pascal Blaise

1657 · réf. ABC_49981 — Cologne: Pierre de la Vallee = Amsterdam Lodewijk & Daniel Elzevier 1657. 19th-century blind-tooled black morocco with the title and author lettered in gold on the spine a double filet border on both boards blind-tooled board edges and turn-ins a red ribbon marker red sprinkled edges marbled endpapers. 12mo. With a woodcut vignette on the title page and several decorated woodcut initials in the text. 2 parts in 1 volume. First issue of the first definitive edition marking a pivotal moment in the work’s history: the first time the Pascal letters were gathered into a single volume with continuous pagination. Issued under the pseudonym “Louis de Montalte” and bearing the fictitious Cologne imprint of “Pierre de la Vallée” the work was in fact printed in Amsterdam by the Elzevier press. Although it is the second edition overall it offers for the first time a coherent and authorially revised text as Pascal himself oversaw revisions to the letters before publication refining their style and argument. It is consequently regarded as the authoritative edition. The 18th letter published after the printing had been completed was appended separately.Blaise Pascal 1623-1662 was a mathematician physicist and religious thinker. In the Provinciales he combines theological argument with a clear and carefully structured prose style. His treatment of complex doctrinal issues in an accessible and engaging manner contributed to the wide readership of the letters beyond strictly scholarly audiences. Few books capture the intellectual tension of 17th-century France as vividly as the Lettres provinciales. Conceived in the heat of the bitter dispute between Jansenists and Jesuits these 18 letters first appeared not as a book but as a series of anonymous pamphlets published between January 1656 and March 1657. At the time of the present work’s publication it was arguably the most widely read work in France and its blend of humour logic and rhetorical precision helped define what would become classical French style.The opening 398 pages contain the complete series of letters combining theological precision with devastating satire. Written in the guise of correspondence from Paris to a provincial friend they expose and ridicule the casuistical reasoning of Jesuit moral theology with a brilliance that ensured their immediate success. At once playful and incisive Pascal’s prose moves effortlessly between irony and indignation creating a new standard for French writing.The second part of the present work turns from satire to direct theological intervention. It contains the Avis de Messieurs les Curés de Paris attributed to Antoine Arnauld 1612-1694 a central figure of the Jansenist movement and a close ally of Pascal. This text anchors the work firmly within the doctrinal controversies of the time particularly the defence of Arnauld following his condemnation by the Sorbonne.With the later manuscript initials "C.E." on the title page. The boards and spine are somewhat rubbed. The work is slightly browned throughout with occasional mild foxing. Otherwise in good condition.l Berghman Stockholm 102; Brunet IV no. 890; PMM 140; STCN 853094535 9 copies; USTC 1841842 11 copies; VD17 23:329180S; Willems 1218. Pierre de la Vallee [= Amsterdam, Lodewijk & Daniel Elzevier], hardcover