First edition. Rare.
Contemporary full calf bindings. Smooth spines with gilt fillets. Red and black morocco title and volume labels. Gilt fillet borders on covers. All edges gilt. Some rubbing.
Antoine de La Salle (1754-1829), philosopher and scientist, was certainly one of the most curious thinkers of his time; his ideas, sometimes whimsical and muddled, made him the leader of the physico-moral school. Physiognomy naturally plays an important part in this theory. La Mechanique is both a classical treatise on physiognomy and a new way of considering the relationship between morals and the body from an educational perspective. Beyond this, La Mechanique is also a treatise on understanding and logic; one finds theories on phonetics and linguistics, in short everything that concerns man - moral, intellectual and physical. La Salle led an eventful life, made numerous voyages, visited America and Asia, studied the relationships between Buddhism and Christianity, wrote an unpublished Histoire de la Chine, and learned Arabic. Then, having left the navy, he traversed Europe, living in Spain then in Italy before returning to settle in Paris where he devoted himself to philosophy and the sciences.
