Essay Review: The Correspondence of Pierre Gassendi: Lettres Latines,Opera Omnia,and the “Primal Archive”,Pierre Gassendi (1592–1655): Introduction à la Vie Savante,Pierre Gassendi (1592–1655): Lettres Latines

Many of the historical figures do not appear in nineteenth- or twentieth-century biographical dictionaries and encyclopedias. One of the best sources is Louis Moréri, Le grand dictionnaire historique … (Paris, 1671, …, 1759).

It is in seven sections: 1. Gassendi: Published Works; 2. Gassendi: Manuscripts; 3. Contemporary Works; 4. Works from Antiquity; 5. Reference Works; 6. Works about Gassendi; 7. General Works.

Beyond the works of Baliani, Bardi, Le Cazré, Fabri, Lobkovitz, and Morin, there is occasional reference to books known to be owned by Gassendi, among them works by Boulliau, Hevelius, and Kepler. For Kepler, as with primary texts listed elsewhere, only French translations are noted. Although some original texts are cited in footnotes, they are difficult to locate. There is no Index to the three volumes.

I use the term “Letter” generically, as most manuscripts letters from Gassendi published in Opera, vi, are autograph drafts (ADf; ADfS) not autograph originals (AL; ALS) actually sent by Gassendi and received by his recipients.

After his death, Gassendi left his manuscripts to Montmor. Happily, this key manuscript volume remained in the family, passing from Gassendi's nephew, also named Pierre Gassendi, to François Gassendi (1713). The volume then passed through later branches of the family and was finally donated to the BN Paris by the family Marey-Monge. See the Introduction by Rochot Bernard , Lettres familières à François Luillier pendant l'hiver 1632–1633 (Paris, 1944). Rochot leaves no stone unturned in tracing the genealogy and provenance of this key manuscript volume.

Gassendi's Opera (Lyons, 1658) was later reprinted (Nicolao Averanio, Florence, 1727; re-paginated with minor corrections) and more recently in a facsimile reprint of the 1658 edition (Stuttgart, 1964). Gassendi's published works were epitomized in French by Bernier François , Abregé de la philosophie de Gassendi (Lyons, 1674–75), and recently in a facsimile reprint edition (8 vols, Fayard, Paris, 1992). Bernier's Abregé is not a translation; it follows Gassendi's original Latin unevenly, sometimes mistaking and embellishing his published views.

Rochot Bernard , “Gassendi (Gassend), Pierre”, in Dictionary of scientific biography.

The trick is to locate and identify letters in a systematic way. The traditional practice is to identify all published versions, to create inventories of the major manuscript collections, and finally, to construct a working calendar of all original, draft, copy, and printed versions. Chronologically arranged, the calendar helps identify patterns of exchange; broken exchanges and gaps suggest possible locations for missing letters. This process also involves pursuing all catalogue listings, writing letters of inquiry, and conducting onsite research, which ranges from precise look-ups to informed “folio flipping”.

NaL 2643 is not listed in the bibliography of Pintard or Taussig.

At least a dozen Gassendi letters appear in manuscript sale catalogues from the heyday of autograph hunters, 1840–60. About half of these letters now appear lost; others were acquired by libraries in Paris, London, New York, and Washington, D.C.

The series of letters in French (copies) from Gassendi to François Luillier are found in NaL 2643, ff. 55–77. The copies were published by Rochot as Lettres familières cited above.

Nicolas-Claude Fabri de Peiresc, Lettres de Peiresc, ed. by de Larroque Philippe Tamizey (7 vols, Paris, 1888–98). Most of the letters exchanged between Peiresc and Gassendi appear in vol. iv, 177–611, but this published exchange is incomplete. Most of the published manuscript letters are found at the BN Paris, some are scattered in public repositories, others remain in private collections.

Some of the editorial difficulties, but not all of the manuscript omissions, are discussed by Charron Jean , “Quelques rectifications et remarques concernant les lettres de Gassendi à Peiresc, publiées par Tamizey de Larroque dans sa collection: Lettres de Peiresc”, XVIIe siècle, no. 68 (1965), 50–56.

The Gassendi letters are found at the BN Paris, f.fr. 9536, ff. 196r–254v, as well as in Naf 5173.

The Peiresc letters to Gassendi occupy the entire volume of f.fr. 12772 (211 folios). Other manuscript letters from the published exchange between Gassendi and Peiresc are found at Aix, Carpentras, and London; others, still unpublished, can be found in Digne, Florence, Vienna, and the United States. Tamizey de Larroque omitted several known letters from this exchange, perhaps because of the personal content.

See BN Paris, N.a.f. 5169.

The early letters date from 1623 from Jean Gassendi at Digne. Among the last letters are exchanges with Gassendi's family members, Catherine, his sister, and especially his nephew, also named Pierre Gassendi, who wrote during the 1650s from Avignon, Aix, and Digne.

Targioni Tozzetti relates an anecdote from the eighteenth century regarding one Giovanni Lami and several luncheon guests, among them the historian G. B. Nelli. After stopping at a market to purchase a fresh portion of mortadella, Lami's guests discovered their lunch had been wrapped in an original letter of Galileo. His appetite whetted, Nelli returned to the market to find still other Galilean wrappings. For this well-known tale, see Fahie J. J. , Galileo, his life and work (London, 1903), 427–8.

Some thirty years ago, in the course of doing something else, I started to take note of the Gassendi letters that showed up in my research in various libraries. If this is called serendipity, I later made systematic inquiries and on-site searches. I have since located Gassendi correspondence in some 50 archives in 11 countries.

The publication of Gassendi's Complete Correspondence, an important desideratum for the future, will likely appear in searchable electronic format. After a thorough search to identify all originals, drafts, copies, and printed versions, all letters to and from Gassendi, scholarly and personal, should be arranged in chronological sequence, including appended materials and selected association letters.