Lot 26: Baillet's life of Descartes, with the rare portrait frontispiece

[BAILLET, ADRIEN]

La Vie de Monsieur Descartes. Paris: Daniel Horthemels, 1691. First edition, two parts in one volume. Mottled calf, gilt heraldic device of Alexandre de la Rochefoucauld Duc de la Rochefoucauld et de la Roche-Guyon (1690-1762), to boards, gilt decorated spine, red leather spine label, all edges sprinkled red. 10 x 7 1/4 inches (25.5 x 18.5 cm); [8], lxii, 417, [18], 602 pp.; folded portrait frontispiece of René Descartes engraved by Edelinck after Franz Hals, two engraved plates, engraved headpiece, initial and illustration in text. Wear to spine and extremities, hinges and front joint starting, occasional light spotting and toning to contents, ink library stamp of the Chateau de la Roche-Guyon on title.

The first edition of this important biography of René Descartes (1596-1650). penned by scholar and critic Adrien Baillet (1649-1706). This copy includes the portrait frontispiece of Descartes after a painting by Franz Hals, which is often lacking.