Rare philosophical and scientific work by one of the most prolific Spanish philosophers of the 17th century, with the very rare variant title page mentioning the name of the publisher. Juan Caramuel y Lobkowitz (1606-1682) was a Catholic scholastic philosopher, ecclesiastic, mathematician, polyglot, and writer. Born in Madrid, he pursued an international ecclesiastical career that took him across Spain, the Low Countries, Germany, Bohemia, and Italy, ultimately serving as Bishop of Vigevano. He is noted for his contributions to probabilism in moral theology and for early work anticipating binary numerical systems. His vast and wide-ranging output made him one of the most intellectually ambitious figures of the Baroque era. The 18th-century French bibliographer Jean-Noël Paquot presumes that Caramuel published at least 262 works on grammar, poetry, oratory, mathematics, astronomy, architecture, physics, politics, canon law, logic, metaphysics, theology, and more.
The present first and only edition of his work on the seven liberal arts, encryption, steganography, and more, was apparently published with two variants of the title page: the more common one includes a title page without the name of the publisher and the rarer one (the present copy) with the name of the publisher. Caramuel's present work, supposedly one of his most complete and articulated encyclopaedias, is divided into four books. The first explores both scholarly sciencs and more controversial subjects such as superstition, divination, natural and demonic forces, and spiritual secrets. The second focuses on secret alphabets and writing systems of various ancient cultures, the third describes ciphers, and the final book discusses "metaciphricus": various forms of (secret) sign language.
With a (shelfmark) label and some annotations in pencil on the front pastedown, a round purple library stamp and an old manuscript annotation on the title page, both noting that the book was part of the library of the Franciscan Frauenberg Monastery in Fulda, Germany (stamp: "Bibliotheca Conventus Fuldensis O.F.M. Frauenberg"; inscription: "Bibl. Orm. Min. in Monte Mar. Fulda"). Further with two variant stamps of the same monastery, one on the verso of the title page, the other in the foot margin of p. 69. Wide margined, uncut copy, thus the edges of the leaves are slightly frayed, the binding is slightly stained and shows signs of wear, small wormholes in the blank margins throughout, browned and slightly stained throughout. Otherwise in good condition. DSB III, 61; Palau 435700; Poggendorf I, 374; USTC 2604054 (1 copy); VD17 12:623128U (1 copy, same as USTC); WorldCat 187067003, 934220505 (6 copies, incl. the USTC copy) cf. VD17 23:625937V (other issue, Cologne 1665).