881J Aristotle/ Joanne Baptista Ptolemaeo (1653-1726.)

Philosophia mentis et sensuum secundum utramque Aristotelis methodum pertractata metaphysice, et empirice a Joanne Baptista Ptolemaeo.

Editio post Romanam, prima in Germania. Augsburg and Dillingen, Bencard; 1698.
Price $ 3,900

Folio.32.5 x 20cm. Signatures: π⁴, a-b⁴, A-5N⁴,):( -2):(⁴. [12 sheets, 839 pages, 8 sheets.] With engraved title vignette and 4 copper plates. – The copper plates with illustrations on kinetics, mechanics, astronomy, hydraulics and optics.- This copy is bound in blind-stamped alum tawed pigskin over wooden boards with handwritten title a beautiful example. Second edition (first published in Germany) (first published in Rome in 1696). -. – Title with handwritten title. Inscription “Monasterii Ursinensis” (= Irsee Monastery) and flyleaf with handwritten inscription of “P(ater) Benedikt (d. i. Michael) Remy,” brother of the painter and architect Magnus (Carl Ludwig) Remy, is responsible for the rehabilitation and painting of the Irsee Benedictine monastery in the late 17th century.The Library of the in 1802/03 dissolved benedictine Monastery Irse was integrated into the “Staats- und Stadtbibliothek Augsburg”. but other authorities say “In 1833, the greater part of the library was moved to Metten Abbey near Deggendorf.. Slightly browned and foxed, from p. 823 with a small wormhole, title and last leaf with bibliographical stamp (removed). Ibid. slightly stained, clasps missing.

Tolomei was born 3 December 1653 at Camberaia (or Gamberaia), between Pistoia and Florence, in the Grand Duchy of Tuscany. He received schooling in Florence; by age fifteen he studied law at the University of Pisa. On 18 February 1673, he entered the Society of Jesus in Rome. He was ordained a priest in 1684. Tolomei preached or lectured on Scripture (e.g. Sunday public lectures at the Church of the Gesù in Rome) to build his public reputation. Tolomei served as Procurator General of the Jesuits for a period before moving fully into academic work. He later occupied the Chair of Philosophy at the Roman College (Collegio Romano, which later becomes the Gregorian University) where he taught a course that resulted in Philosophia mentis et sensuum being printed. Eventually he also held the Chair of Theology, renewing controversial theology in the Jesuit scholastic context.
He became rector of the Roman College and of the German College at various points. He served as a consultor or adviser to various Roman congregations:

On 17 May 1712, Pope Clement XI made Tolomei a cardinal-priest, giving him the title of Santo Stefano al Monte Celio. As cardinal, Tolomei was a major theological adviser to the pope. He was involved in the controversies over Jansenism (notably the condemnation of the ideas of Pasquier Quesnel) and in doctrinal policing in the Church. Catholic. He died on 19 January 1726 in Rome, in the Roman College.

The Philosophia mentis et sensuum, Tolomei presented a scholastic-Aristotelian framework for philosophy of mind and senses, but tried to incorporate empirical data and recent discoveries. Many sources say he “welcomed every discovery of his time in the natural sciences” and wove them into his lecture course. His philosophical work was recognized outside Italy; his lectures were reprinted in Germany (1698) and elicited praise from Leibniz in a letter to M. A. Fardella.
His attempt to mediate between Aristotelian scholasticism and the experimental turn marks him as a transitional figure in Jesuit natural philosophy. The Philosophia mentis et sensuum (1696) is the key printed witness. It explicitly distinguishes metaphysice from empirice, attempting to give physics more autonomy for empirical/experimental concerns. .

Catholic Encyclopedia say that Tolomei “welcomed every discovery of his time in the natural sciences, and wove them into his lectures.” That reputation made his course distinctive compared to older, purely scholastic manuals. His updates were more curricular and philosophical, providing space for empirical sciences within a Jesuit framework.


VD17 12:642420B. ; De Backer-Sommervogel. vol.VIII, col86.nº2

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