DESCARTES, René.

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Epistola ad celeberrimum D. Gisbertum Voetium. First edition of one of Descartes's rarest works, his famous open letter to the Dutch Calvinist Gisbert Voetius (1589-1676), who as rector of the University of Utrecht engineered a condemnation of Cartesianism and accused Descartes of actively encouraging atheism.The so-called "Querelle d' Utrecht" was a fierce public argument between Descartes and Voetius which lasted from 1639 until Descartes's death in 1650. Descartes's Letter was written as a response to two works by Voetius and his colleagues: the Confraternitas Mariana (1642) and the Admiranda Methodus (1643). Both attacked Descartes's philosophy, and the latter - attributed to Martin Schoock (1614-1669), a supporter of Voetius - charged Descartes with rejecting the traditional proofs for the existence of God. It also implied that he deserved the same treatment as heretics such as Lucilio Vanini, the Italian free-thinking philosopher who was executed in 1619 for atheism and blasphemy. In his Letter, Descartes defended his philosophy at length and argued for the autonomy of human reason and religious tolerance. "As to moral philosophy the Letter to Voetius contains much of interest, not only because it contains extensive discussions of the passions, but also because, much more than the Passions de l'âme, it establishes a link between virtue and knowledge, between morality and method" (Verbeek).A Dutch translation was issued simultaneously (Amsterdam: Van Baerdt, 1643), and t

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