Treatise on Wisdom

The work was published in 1646 by Bonaventure and Abraham Elsevier, brothers and partners who printed in Leiden from 1626 to 1652. This illustrious family of Dutch typographers and printers invented the typeface that bears their name. The Elzevir family printed nearly 2000 volumes between 1583 and 1712, the year the last survivor died. One of the typographic marks of the Elzevirs, created by Issac Elsevier in 1620, adorns the great hall of the Library of Congress in Washington D.C.

Pierre Charron (1541-1603) was a theologian, philosopher and moralist. After studying law, he was ordained and quickly made a name for himself through his preaching, becoming the preacher of Marguerite de France. He became friends with Michel de Montaigne. In 1595, he was sent to Paris as a deputy and became president of this assembly. His Traité de la sagesse published in 1601 in Bordeaux, represents his major work and caused a scandal. In it, he defended religious tolerance and was accused of atheism. The work is dedicated to Prince Maximilian of Burgundy. This 1646 edition is considered by Brunet to be the most elegant of the 4 editions published by the Elzevirs (Brunet, Manuel du libraire, Vol. I).

Paul Fréart de Chantelou was the first Frenchman to discover Nicolas Poussin, a 17th-century French painter. Sent to Rome to bring Nicolas Poussin back to France, he took care of the artist during the 2 years of his Parisian stay between 1640 and 1642. Then, after Poussin's return to Rome, Paul Fréart de Chantelou maintained a rich correspondence with the painter, an important source of information on the last 20 years of the painter's life.