M. Danielis Stahli Metaphysica in qua Generalissimi non solum, sed etiam Specialissimi termini & distinctions accurate explicantur, Controversiae dilucidè tractantur, Et Metaphysicae usus in diversis disciplinis, praecipuè Theologia breviter ostenditur.

Frankfurt. Hardcover. Very Good+. MDLII (1652). 8vo (160 x 90mm). Pagination: 463pp. Signatures: A-Z(8), Aa-Ff(8). Italic type.Period vellum, spine inscribed 78; (covers somewhat soiled and darkened, corners lightly bumped, intermittent browning, sound copy with period annotations). This copy enhanced with Latin marginalia throughout, including pastedown and front flyleaf covered in threepages of philosophical notations written in Latin, seemingly following a traditional Thomastic philosophy on the theme of sin. These are seemingly unpublished thoughts written in a clear, later 17th- or early 18th-century hand. The rear blanks extra inscribed with an index to the chapters 1 through 38 and further thoughts on the four elements and miscellaneous text. Somewhat faded ownership inscription to title, showing “Georgius” and the year 1779.

Daniel Stahl was a professor of logic and metaphysics at the University of Jena, one of the oldest universities in Germany to maintain a long philosophical tradition, holding that academic rank from 1623. As well, Professor Stahl kept his ties alive in Frankfurt through the intermittent teaching he did there at Brandenburg University as early as 1620. This is Stahl’s textbook monograph on metaphysics, which was first published, as here, in 1652 in Frankfurt(and again in 1686). It was published again in Jena in 1655 as the Compendium metaphysicae in XXIV tabellas redactum, and again in 1690 in Breda. Stahl’s philosophical writings on metaphysics and the contemplative sciences after Aristotle greatly influenced the work of later thinkers such as Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz and Sir Isaac Newton. In particular, Stahl is known for his enlightened commentary on ideas such as the appetite of the will, the notion of agent and patient, the nature of subject and accident, and - on matter and form - theAristotelian idea of prime matter. These topics, fundamental to Stahl’s teaching mission, were directly concerned with the nature of God; a popular curricular subject within the walls of 17th century European universities. Most uncommon publication, rarely found outside of a few German institutions.