187 - [MANUSCRIPT - BRITTANY] GAULTIER, Johannes. Course in Metaphysics Taught by Denis le Mée. 1715.

[MANUSCRIPT - BRITTANY] GAULTIER, Johannes. Course in Metaphysics Taught by Denis le Mée. 1715. An interesting manuscript on philosophy and the sciences, written by a student from Ploubazlanec and carefully preserved by his family for three generations (1745–1762). S.l. [Saint-Brieuc], 1715–1716. Small quarto (225 x 172 mm). Period binding in glossy brown calfskin, ribbed spine with title embossed in blind stamping, edges speckled red. 171 ff. (Approximately 25 folios are missing, cut from the beginning and end). Leather scuffed, superficial scuffs, a mark on the front cover, a few light foxing spots. Manuscript in ecclesiastical Latin, written in black ink in a “coulée” script by Joannes Gaultier, a student from Ploubazlanec in the Côtes-d’Armor. This course in metaphysics opens with the third part (“ Pars 3ª physice [metaphysica] quæstiones proœmiales de nomine et existentia metaphysicæ”), which defines the discipline as “wisdom” and “natural theology” grounded in the light of reason, as opposed to the supernatural theology of faith. The treatise addresses Cartesian thought (proofs of God’s existence, the preservation of the world) and concludes with the soul’s self-knowledge. Although the title page lists the date as 1716, the last page of the course explicitly states: “In the year one thousand seven hundred and fifteen, under the instruction of Mr. Denis Le Mée...”. In 1715, Denis Le Mée (c. 1685–1750), then in his thirties and a “bachelor of sacred theology,” taught science and philosophy at the college in Saint-Brieuc, where he dictated this course to the young Jean Gaultier. His career then progressed brilliantly: he was appointed professor of theology and canon of the Saint-Guillaume Collegiate Church in Saint-Brieuc in 1731, a prestigious position he held until his death in 1750. A testament to local history, this volume has remained in the same family line in Upper Brittany for three generations. At the end of the book is Jean-Joseph Gaultier’s handwritten bookplate, dated 1745. Over the course of the century, the title page has become a valuable record of ownership and early calligraphy practice (alphabets and pen exercises) for the next generation (Pélagie, Yves Gaultier de Ploubolane, and Maître Toussaint Gaultier), who repeated the date 1762 there. This same flyleaf opens at the very top with a note regarding the discipline of a religious community or school (“When the assembly of brothers breaks the silence…”), In good overall condition.