21 - ARISTOTLE - BUISSERET, Hugues. A collection of seven treatises, extensively annotated (De Natura - De Coelo - De Mundo - De Ortu et Interitu - Meteorologicorum - De Animo - Parva Naturalia).

ARISTOTLE - BUISSERET, Hugues. A collection of seven treatises, extensively annotated (De Natura - De Coelo - De Mundo - De Ortu et Interitu - Meteorologicorum - De Animo - Parva Naturalia). A valuable Renaissance scholarly collection, enriched with nearly 2,000 handwritten annotations by the Cistercian Hugues Buisseret (1550–1624), who was appointed auxiliary bishop of Cambrai. Duaci (Douai), Ioannem Bogardum (Jean Bogard), 1575. Large 8vo (224 x 162 mm), full brown calfskin, ribbed spine, panels adorned with a delicate central gilt fleur-de-lis, covers adorned with cold-stamped fillets framing small gilded fleurons at the corners, featuring in the center the Jesuit monogram “IHS” surmounted by a trefoil cross and supported by a flaming heart, the whole encircled by a border of radiating flames. 2 unnumbered folios (preface, epistle), 120 folios (De natura), 62 folios (De coelo libri IIII), 16 folios (De mundo), 36 folios (De ortu et interitu, two books), 70 ff. (Meteorologicorum, four books), 48 ff. (De animo, three books), 72 ff. (Libelli, qui parua naturalia), 1 f. unnumbered (approval). Worn contemporary binding with losses (as is); the general title page for *De natura* is missing (text is complete). Some expected internal imperfections: scattered small foxing spots, a few ink stains (on the side edge and margin, mainly located in the *De Animo* section), and a faint water stain on the upper margin affecting approximately 10 folios of the *Meteorologicorum*. An exceptional copy of this Douai Latin edition, enriched with an impressive handwritten critical apparatus consisting of nearly 2,000 marginal and interlinear annotations in extremely fine handwriting. This was the personal study manual of the Cistercian Hugues Buisseret (1550–1624), then a professed monk at the prestigious Abbey of Aulne (Belgium), before his brilliant career, which led him to high ecclesiastical offices such as Abbot of Nizelles (1594), Abbot of Jardinet (1600), and finally Suffragan Bishop of Cambrai. The title page bears his perfectly preserved handwritten bookplate: “Hugo Buisseret / Alnensis / 1578.” Each intermediate title page is adorned with Jean Bogard’s large woodcut mark depicting a winged heart soaring over the city of Douai, surmounted by an open book and the dove of the Holy Spirit. The motif is encircled by his famous humanist motto, “Scientiam cor rectum invenit” (The upright heart finds knowledge), set within a beautiful Mannerist frame featuring the attributes of Wisdom. The work concludes with the approval page and the official printing permit required by the ecclesiastical censorship of the Counter-Reformation, signed by Arnould Le Massy, full professor of theology at the University of Douai. The collection of handwritten annotations constitutes an impressive work of philosophical exegesis centered on the logical mapping of Aristotle’s reasoning (Nota, Ratio, Definitio), semantic interlinear glosses on key concepts (the four causes, the nature of motion, the void), the examination and refutation of the theses of the presocratic philosophers (Anaxagoras, Democritus, Empedocles), as well as detailed notes explaining the engraved scientific diagrams (optics, meteorology, memory). The collection consists of the following seven scientific and physical treatises: - *De Natura, aut de Rerum Initiis libri VIII*. This treatise analyzes the fundamental principles of ancient physics: the theory of matter and form (hylemorphism), the definition of motion, time, and space, and the refutation of the void... - *De Coelo*, libri IIII: A treatise on astronomy and cosmology establishing the model of a geocentric, spherical, and finite universe. - *De Mundo, ad Alexandrum Macedoniae Regem*: An apocryphal cosmological treatise, long attributed to Aristotle, offering a theological and scientific synthesis of the general structure of the universe (heavens, earth, seas). - *De Ortu et Interitu libri duo*: A treatise on generation and corruption. It examines the mechanisms of radical physical change (the birth and death of substances) as opposed to mere motion or alteration. Aristotle details in this work the combination of the primary qualities (hot, cold, dry, wet) that gives rise to simple bodies. - *Meteorologicorum libri quatuor*: A comprehensive physical study of atmospheric, geological, and terrestrial phenomena. It contains several scientific woodcut diagrams, notably the concentric circles of the compass for the wind rose (ff. 33 and 36) as well as geometric diagrams of optics explaining the refraction of light for the rainbow (f. 47). - *De Animo libri III*: A treatise on the soul considered as the primary act of an organized, living physical body. It classifies the faculties of the soul into three levels (vegetative, sensitive, and intellective) and develops fundamental theories