Collation: 12mo: * – 2* ¹² 3* ⁴ A–K¹² L⁸, 156 leaves, pp [56] 242 13 [1] (last page blank), woodcut device on title.
Condition: 129x70mm.
Binding: Contemporary sheep, gilt spine with raised bands, minor worming and top and bottom of spine, corners worn.
Provenance: Old signature on title inked out.
References: Guibert (7) pp. 156–7; Willems 1105; Tchemerzine II, p. 794, a; Krivatsy 3136; Wellcome II p. 453.
Binding: Price: £600

First Latin edition, translated by Henry Desmarets from Des passions de l’âme, 1649.
¶ Descartes influential mechanistic account of the interaction of mind and body. was the first of Descartes’ physiological treatises to be published. In 1650 Elzevier also published a latin edition of the Discours de la methode, and an English translation of Des passions de l’âme appeared in London.

"Descartes believed the soul to be a definite entity, giving rise to thoughts, feelings, and acts of volition. He was one of the first to regard the brain as an organ integrating the functions of mind and body." (Garrison and Morton 4965, citing the original French edition.)