Buy this book on-line

CHARRON, Pierre : OF WISDOME, THREE BOOKES

CHARRON, Pierre. OF WISDOME, THREE BOOKES. Written in French by Peter Charron, Doctor of Lawe in Paris. Translated by Samson Lennard. London, Edward Blount and William Aspley (printed by George Miller, 1630). Engraved portrait of the translator by R. Vaughan, and engraved title with allegorical figures by William Hole. (2)ff., (xxx)588(34)pp. This translation first appeared in 1608. The book in hand is probably the 3rd edition. Charron (1541-1603), one of the 25 children of a bookseller, studied law and then entered the Church. His first books defended the Catholic Church as the Only True Church. In "De la Sagesse" (1603), however, he expressed a skepticism which caused the book to be suppressed in France, though extremely popular in England. He was cynical about human nature, and although he felt religion to be irrational, he advised unquestioning faith. His chief departure was separating morality from religion. His friend and mentor Montaigne thought so highly of him that in his will he asked Charron to wear the arms of the Montaigne family. In early calf, worn at extremities and lacking paste-downs. Dampstain to four leaves of the preface; discoloring to margin of one leaf of "contents,"and light foxing to the two engraved plates. An extremely influential work.