Summa philosophica quattor in partes distributa, 1639-1641

Manuscript on paper, in a single cursive hand, of a four part summa of seventeeth-century science and philosophy. The introduction discusses formal argumentation and syllogisms. The four formal parts draw heavily upon Aristotelian concepts as developed by Thomas Aquinas. Part One deals with logic and is illustrated by a Porphyrian Tree, while Part Two concerns physics, particularly the relation of soul and intellect, but also meteors, comets, weather and the oceans. Part Three is an exposition of an Aristotelian ethics, and Part Four, on metaphysics, is a brief compilation of orthodox dogma on the nature of God. The volume concludes with an unnumbered addition to Part Two on "celestial physics." Illustrated with over three dozen drawings and diagrams in colored inks and washes, this text centers on a comparison of the Ptolomaic, Copernican, and Tychonic systems with the system of Eustachius a Sancto Paulo (probably from his Summa philosophiæ quadripartita), and, finally, the " verum systema" of Aquinas. It also contains equinox and solstice charts, illustrated discussions of lunar phases, eclipses, and astrology