Fides et ratio collatae, ac suo utraque loco redditae, adversus Principia Joannis Lockii

First edition (1707), before the reprint of 1708 and English translation of 1713. Small octavo, 16 x 11 cm overall, the pages 15.5 x 9.5 cm. Contemporary vellum over boards, smooth spine with inked shelf-number at center and paper label with black ink numbers at bottom, all edges cut and stained red. Printed throughout in Latin with occasional Greek on fine laid paper. Collates 61, [19], 472, [104] pages, plus blanks front and rear, complete: [1 l.], 1 l. (title in red and black with woodcut device, quotation from Chrysostom verso), pp. 3-60 (Praefatio), 61-[80] (Tractatus), [1]-203 (Animadversiones), [1 p.], 1 l. (fly-title), pp. [208]-240 (Accessio Prima, de Fide Nuda), 1 l. (fly-title), pp. [243]-314 (Accessio Secunda, de Scripturae S. Certitudine), 1 l. (fly-title), pp. [317]-472 (Accessio Tertia, de Vera Perfectione), 51 ll. (indexes), 1 l. (errata recto, quotation from Justin verso), [1 l.]. Covers moderately soiled, number piece chipped; endpapers with binding stains; wormholes in front gutter not affecting any text or structure; scattered light staining and toning; discreet small penciled marks infrequently throughout, generally marginal; repaired 2 cm clean tear in bottom margin H7 not touching text; overall very good, well printed on crisp and bright paper, the text block tight and strong. Attig [483], Yolton C1708-5 (both noting only the 1708 second edition). Part I, following the lengthy "Praefatio Editoris," comprises 22 short "Theses de Rationis prae Fide" by an unnamed Scottish disciple of Locke, in English and Latin on facing pages, dated at the end "L. 25. Nov. 1701," confuted by the 474 points of the "Animadversiones" disputing each thesis in turn at length. Part II comprises three "Accessiones." The fly-title of Accessio Tertia ends with a pseudonym: "Commentationes Alethophili." The actual authorship of Fides et ratio collatae, previously entered in the British Museum Catalogue under "John Locke" as by an unknown author, was traced by G.D. Henderson, Mystics of the North-East (1934), and Stephen Hobhouse, "Fides et ratio: the book which introduced Jacob Boehme to William Law," Journal of theological studies, vol. XXXVII, no. 148 (1936), by references in the writings and correspondence of a group in Great Britain with whom the offerings of the compiler and editor Pierre Poiret (1645-1719), the scholar-printer Henricus Wetstein (1649-1726) and Jeanne-Marie Bouvier de la Motte-Guyon (Mme Guyon, 1648-1717) found fertile ground, among them George Cheyne, Dr James Keith in London, the brothers James and George Garden, Lord Forbes of Pitsligo, Chevalier Andrew Michael Ramsay, James Oglivie Lord Deskford, James Cunningham of Barnes and the Philadelphian Francis Lee. A contemporary manuscript English transcription of the Accessio Tertia in Cullen House, Banffshire, once Lord Deskford's residence, is entitled "Baron de Metternacht's Treatise concerning the perfection and happiness that is to be attained in this life," thus linking the pseudonymous "Alethophilus" with Baron de Metternacht (also "B. of Metter" and "B. of M." to his friends in England and Scotland). The cumulative internal and external evidence is that the Animadversions, Accessio Prima and Accessio Tertia are all by "Alethophilus," pseudonym of the imperial diplomat and high administrator Wolf Freiherr (= "Baron") von Metternich (d. 1731), to whom at least 33 affectionate letters (addressing "Mon cher F") from Mme Guyon (and at least seven of his to Mme Guyon, signed "F") survive, full of "la vie intérieure," his with references to Dr Garden and the Chevaliers de Forbes (i.e., Pitsligo) and de Ramsay, carriers of her influence into England and Scotland. This first Latin edition is rare. When Hobhouse examined the authorship in 1936, he knew only two copies, including the British Museum volume, of the 1708 second Latin edition in England. This copy belonged to the polylinguist and classicist Lawrence I. Feinberg.…