[Rarebooks] FS: Pascal's Meditations, First Edition in English, 1688

[charles agvent]

            1. PASCAL,    Blaise.    MONSIEUR     PASCALL'S   THOUGHTS,
          MEDITATIONS,  AND PRAYERS, TOUCHING MATTERS MORAL AND DIVINE,
          AS THEY  WERE  FOUND IN HIS PAPERS.... London:  Jacob  Tonson
          1688. First   Edition.  The  First   Edition  in  English  of
          Pascal's  classic  Les Pensees (1665). Octavo bound in  early
          calf neatly  rebacked  at a later date in a slightly  lighter
          shade of  leather. Complete with front and rear blanks: [42],
          375, [1]  pages. The French mathematician and theologian, who
          invented  the  first  digital calculator, wrestled  with  the
          inability  of reason to understand God. His work with  Fermat
          on the  nature  of  probability presaged the  development  of
          modern  decision theory, on the basis of which he argued that
          belief  in  God,  although not rational, is a good  bet:  "Le
          coeur a  ses  raisons  que le raison ne connait  point"  (The
          heart has  its  reasons that reason does not know  at  all.).
          Pascal  died painfully at the age of 39 from what was  likely
          cancer. Near Fine, complete copy of this classic.    $3500.00


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