1610 Antatomia Logicae Aristoteleae by Severin Schluter. Ramist logic compared to traditional Aristotelian. Scarce.

Fairly scarce 1610 work by Severin Schluter comparing traditional Aristotelian logic to Ramist theology, presented as a neutral comparison with pros and cons of both sides. Bound with endpapers from a 1505 printing Postille Majores...

Also, it seems highly likely the book enjoys New England provenance (see below).

About the Work -

Severin Schluter was a German Protestant theologian. From 1607-1612 he produced three works with Ramist theology as the focus. This 1610 (first edition) Anatomia Logicae Aristoteleae compared Ramist point to traditionalists.

"Petrus Ramus objected to the way in which young students were made to memorize meaningless facts and rules of logic… He advocated the “freedom to philosophize,” maintaining that the use of reason would eventually lead a person to discover the truth. Although Ramus was known for Renaissance anti-Aristotelianism, he upheld what he called the “true Aristotle” and blamed ancient and medieval commentators for misinterpreting Aristotle’s original intentions. In 1561 he converted to Protestantism, and was brutally murdered by his enemies during the Saint Bartholomew's Day Massacre, which started on August 24, 1572." – New World Encyclopedia

"The teachings of Ramus had a broadly based reception well into the seventeenth century. ...The longest-lasting strand of Ramism was in systematic Calvinist theology, where textbook treatments with a Ramist framework were still used into the eighteenth century, particularly in New England." - Wikipedia

About the Provenance -

Four names are found written in this book. The title page has Samuel Russell and Jonathan Danforth. The reverse of the title page has Ebenezer Prince. Page 159 has a "Daniel Brown" inscription (as well as other evidences of his name throughout the book).

There is a set of numbers on the title page, "17:5:79" that is very similar in style to early shelfmark systems in New England libraries like Benjamin Franklin's and Yale's.

All of the names are shared with learned and accomplished men that inhabited New England in the 17th and 18th century. Samuel Russell graduated Harvard in 1681 and was the pastor in Branford. Jonathan Danforth was among the first settlers of Billerica Massachusetts. Ebenezer Prince was born in Salem and moved to Thompson Ct.. And there was a Daniel Brown, grandson of the Chad Brown who was banished from Salem for his beliefs.

The Samuel Russel title page inscription is dated to the 17th century, "16(9?)3".

I bought the book from the East Coast.

As a whole, the evidence indicates that the book was in the early New England area, which is fitting because New England's education system embraced Ramist theology when others had moved on to newer forms of education reform, building on Ramist's gains.

Bibliographic Details -

Universal Short Title Catalogue number 2135586. Nine copies listed in the world's libraries, all in Europe. No U.S. or Americas copy listed.

The endpaper pages are fragments of leaves taken from the 1505 Postille Majores Illustrantes... and can be seen in their fuller form in the scanned copy found on Google Books (front endpaper signed Nii, which is page cccxli; rear endpaper signed D1, which is page ccxcii).

Rough translation of the title page - The anatomy of Aristotelian logic, or the logic of the Syncrisis, in which 1. it is prearranged, methodically proposed from Aristotle's Organon, is explained in the glosses of the famous interpreters: 2. what the Ramists wanted in the same is indicated: 3. finally, the different opinions of the Aristotelians and the Ramists are compared in soundness and disagreement, so that what is true or false must be clearly known.


Physical Attributes -

Measures approx. 16.5 x 9.5 x 5.5 cm. Leather binding, boards with frame of double blind fillet. Spine with four raised bands, title in gilt in one compartment. Endpapers from an earlier work. Printer's mark on title page.

Pages - xl, 888

Collation - *8, **8, ***4, A-Z8, Aa-Zz8, Aaa-Iii8, Kkk4

Condition -

See pictures. Fresh binding, but old endpapers reused. Binding has the lightest wear and perhaps a few ring rubs. Text block toned throughout. Endpapers chipped around edges. Title page with some burn-through of gall ink used for ownership inscriptions; many inscriptions on title page. Throughout book gall ink was used to make notes, underlining, annotations, etc. ; in a few spots the gall has burnt through the paper (worst at outer margins of leaf signed v3 where Daniel Brown doodled). Title page corners are chipped. Occasional ink spot, dog-eared page, candle ember spot, fox spot, etc, throughout. Fairly foxed and toned throughout. Some moisture marks from bottom edge, mostly in bottom margin. Occasional page edge or corner chip.