CHAUVIN, Étienne (1640-1725). Lexicon Philosophicum secundis curis. Leeuwarden: F. Halma, 1713.

Second edition—enlarged and revised—of one of the earliest scientific encyclopedias. The author was a Cartesian philosopher and the successor of Bayle in Rotterdam, whose 1695 Dictionnaire historique likely inspired the present work. The contents reveal the waning interest in "magic" and the more esoteric topics, focusing more on the experimental sciences. The fine allegorical engraved title by A. Schoonebeek depicts philosophers confronting the fruits of experiment, with Plato and Aristotle examining an airpump, as well as Descartes resting his hand on a set of Magdeburg spheres, which Guericke used to prove the existence of the vacuum—which Descartes had famously denied. The folding plates contain simplified copies of many famous scientific illustrations of the previous century across fields. Roller and Goodman I p.225.

Folio (400 x 251mm). Half title, title page printed in red and black with engraved vignette. Engraved additional title, portrait of Chauvin, 30 folding plates at end, small diagrams in text (spots and stains, minor marginal dampstaining at end). Contemporary Dutch blindstamped calf (a little dustsoiled, small area of lost vellum on rear board).