Praecepta doctrinae logicae, ethicae, physicae metaphysicae

London: J. Redmayne, 1671. Later (7th) ed. Engraved general title, each part with separate title. Contemporary calf, Oxford-style binding with ruled borders on covers. Ownership inscription of E. Vaughan (alum of Eton), several small animal figures cut from another (contemporary) book and laid in. Seventh edition of one of the most successful text books of the seventeenth century. Initially published in 1647, the author defines logic as an intellectual habit of the mind, which makes discourses and distinguishes truth from falsehood (translation from the Latin, p. 1). Stier’s concept of logic and his theory of method comes directly from Giacomo Zabarella, as he states that method, which can be either synthetic or analytic, is the instrument for acquiring knowledge of things. Stier first explains the fundamentals of logic with a focus on language, then further treats ethics, physics, metaphysics, and finally astronomy. This work played a fundamental role in the spreading of Paduan Aristotelianism in English universities.

Stier (1599-1648) was one of the most prominent German logicians in the Aristotelian tradition whose syncretic works were successful in the British Isles. Zabarella (1533-1589) was the most prominent figure of Italian Aristotelianism. Known for his writing on logic and methodology, he developed the regressus method, which the Renaissance Aristotelians considered as the proper means of obtaining knowledge. At the turn of the seventeenth century, Zabarella’s writings were reprinted in Germany, where his philosophy had a notable following, especially among Protestant Aristotelian authors. Wing, 5542.