The History, Choice, and Method of Studies…
London: Printed for S. Keble…John Hindmarsh…[et al.], 1695. First edition in English of Fleury’s comprehensive treatise on education, first published in 1686 as Traité du choix et de la methode des etudes. Fleury discusses the studies of the Greeks, Romans, Christians, Franks, and Arabians, as well as various branches of learning, including grammar, arithmetic, geometry, economics, history, rhetoric, poetry. He discusses the studies of medicine, law, and government, as well as studies for women, clergymen, swordsmen, and men of the robe. For good measure, there are sections on “curious studies,” such as literary criticism, and “useless studies,” such as “bad philosophy” (“I place every thing that deceives, under the Name of Philosophy”). A very good, clean copy. Contemporary panelled calf, rebacked to style, with burgundy morocco label, edges sprinkled red. Octavo. [16], 188, [3, ads] pp. Item #13213
Abbé Fleury (1640-1723) practiced law before entering the priesthood. In 1672 Louis XIV chose him as the tutor to the Princes de Conti, a role he fulfilled with such success that the king then entrusted him with the education of the count of Vermandois, one of his natural sons, on whose death in 1683 Fleury received for his services the Cistercian abbey of Loc-Deu in the diocese of Rhodez. In 1689, he was appointed sub-preceptor of the dukes of Burgundy, Anjou and Berry, and thus became a close associate of Fenelon, their chief tutor. After their education was completed, the king gave him the rich priory of Argenteuil. Fleury became a member of the French Academy in 1696 to fill the place of La Bruyère. He was also confessor to Louis XVI. As an author, Fleury is esteemed for the breadth of his knowledge, his as well as his clear, concise, and pure style. He is best known for his twenty-volume Histoire ecclésiastique (1691), a monumental work spanning four centuries. The present work was long regarded as an authority in the literature of the history of education.
Wing F1364. Alston X, 140.
Price: $1,250.00