Center for the History of Philosophy and Science

I publish here two letters by the French philosopher and mathematician René
Descartes. The first and most important letter, dating from May 1641 and addressed to
Mersenne, is almost entirely devoted to the printing of the Meditations in Paris. The second
letter, dated June 1646, is Descartes’ letter of thanks to Pasor, rector of the University
of Groningen, after receiving satisfaction for the complaints he had filed against Schoock.
The text of both letters was unknown.

THE LETTRE APOLOGETIQUE AUX MAGISTRATS D'UTRECHT was Descartes's final effort to obtain satisfaction from the Municipality or Vroedschap of Utrecht. In 1643 the Vroedschap had condemned Descartes's Epistola ad Dinetum and Epistola ad Voetium in defence of ...

Edition of the manuscript "Verantwoordingh van Renatus Descartes," the Dutch translation of Descartes's "Lettre aplogétique aux Magistrats d'Utrecht." Corrected and signed by Descartes. Sent to the Utrecht Municipality in February 1648. Transcription, introduction and annotation by Erik-Jan Bos

We present here two letters of Voetius to Maarten Schoock, professor of philosophy at the university of Groningen. They almost exclusively treat both men's dispute with Descartes, and especially the proceedings the French philosopher instituted against Schoock because of his anti-Cartesian work Admiranda methodus (Utrecht 1643). The first letter (April 1644, published here for the first time), is of particular interest, for Voetius described in detail the reasons for publishing Admiranda methodus in it. The second one (21 January 1645 o.s., only partly known) is a letter of advice, or, as Descartes saw it, a shameless attempt to entice Schoock to give false evidence before his judges (AT VIIIB 248-249). The letters are in Latin, accompanied by our Dutch translation. The last document published here is Schoock's Corte memorie. The margins of this manuscript show Voetius's own comments.
Follows an addition to the inventory of Voetius’s correspondence.

After Descartes’ death in 1650, Princess Elizabeth generously shared with others several letters she had received from the philosopher, which contained philosophically as well as mathematically exciting material. In this article I place the transmission of these copies in context, revealing that Elizabeth steadily became an intellectually inspiring figure, attracting international attention. In the 1650s she stayed at Heidelberg where she discussed Cartesian philosophy with professors and students alike, including the professor of philosophy and mathematics Johann von Leuneschlos. In the mid-1660s, an initiative was taken from the English side of the Channel (Pell, More) to obtain Descartes’ mathematical letters to Elizabeth that had not yet been published. One letter of Elizabeth herself on this very subject has been preserved. The letter, addressed to Theodore Haak, is published here for the first time. It is of special interest, because the princess supplies a general outline of her solution to the mathematical problem Descartes gave her to solve in 1643. It substantiates the hypothesis regarding Elizabeth’s solution earlier proposed by Henk Bos.