8vo. (XVI & IV),884,(16 index) p. Calf. 20.5 cm (Ref: VD18 11185910; Brunet 1,1284) (Details: Back ruled gilt and with 5 raised bands. Red shield in the second compartment. Marbled endpapers. Edges dyed red. Programmatic woodcut on the title, depicting a bear that emerges from the cavern where he has been hibernating; he sucks his own left paw; motto: 'ipse alimenta sibi': 'he himself is his own nourisment,' or in German: 'Er ist selber seine eigene Speise', which means: philosophy does not need input from elsewhere, no previous learning or art, but is selfsufficient, i.e. philosophy originates from itself. This motto summarizes Brucker's ideas on philosophy. The emerging bear was also printed on the title of Brucker's 'Magnum Opus' 'Historia critica philosophiae a mundi incunabulis ad nostram usque aetatem deducta' (1742-1744)) (Condition: Back scuffed, corners bumped. Front joint beginning to crack. Bookplate on the front pastedown. Small stamp on the title. Small name cut out off the fyleaf. Good quality paper) (Note: The importance of the German philosopher Jacob Brucker, 1696-1770, for the historiography of philosophy, can hardly be overestimated. In his work the philosophical views of the Enlightenment are clearly expressed. Best known is his 'Historia critica philosophiae a mundi incunabilis ad nostram usque aetatem deducta' (5 volumes 1742/44; second edition in 6 vols. 1766/67), and his 'Institutiones historiae philosophicae usui academicae juventutis adornatae', first published in 1747, second augmented edition in 1756. The 'Historia critica' is a Latin translation of Brucker's 'Kurze Fragen aus der philosophischen Historie' (1731/36). The 'Institutiones historiae philosophicae' is a summary for students of his 'Magnum Opus'. It was even translated into English (Enfield, 1791, 2 vols.). The French encyclopaedist Denys Diderot, who wrote most of the articles on the history of philosophy in the 'Encyclopédie', translated only passages from the work of Brucker. Goethe, Kant, Hegel and Schopenhauer studied Brucker. And Brucker is frequently cited and translated by Jean Jacques Barthelemy in his imaginary travel journal, and one of the first historical novels, 'Les Voyages du jeune Anacharsis en Grèce' (1788). That Brucker is no longer consulted is partly due to his writing in Latin. (Source: 'Vorlesungen von Franz M. Wimmer, Universität Wien. Philosophiehistorie in der Aufklärung' (On the site of the University of Vienna)) (Provenance: Woodcut bookplate, dating before WW II: 'Ex libris meis Eduard Winter', motto: 'Deo Veritatis'; the woodcut is signed ES. § In pencil on front flyleaf: 'Dr. E. Winter'. Eduard Winter, born in Bohemia in 1896, studied theology at the University of Innsbruck and the 'Deutsche Universität' in Prague. In 1919 he was ordained priest. In 1934 he was appointed professor of Church History and Patristics in Prague. He joined the NSDAP in 1939 and was excommunicated the next year. During the war he became a member of the SS and worked for the SD. After the war he joined the communists and was elected to the chair of History of Eastern Europe at the Martin-Luther-Universität, Halle-Wittenberg, in the DDR. From 1951 he lectured at the 'Humboldt-Universität' at Berlin, and was director of the 'Institut für Geschichte der Völker der UdSSR'. He died in Berlin in 1982. (Source wikipedia) § The motto probably refers to Thomas Aquinas' Quaestio 89, articulus 1: 'Sed ille qui per Deum iurat aliquid Deo reddit, dicitur enim Matth. V, reddes domino iuramenta tua; et Augustinus dicit quod iurare est ius veritatis Deo reddere. Ergo iurare non est Deum testem invocare'. § On the title a small stamp: 'G.W.B.D', for 'Gräfliche Waldbott-Bassenheim'sche Dominalverwaltung' (See the site buxheimlibrary.org. Waldbott von Bassenheim is the name of a German Rhenish noble family, first documented in 1136. Hugo Philipp Graf Waldbott von Bassenheim (1820-1895) was the sole heir to a large family fortune, and led a lavish lifestyle. He squandered his ancestors' fortune and ended up bankrupt. From 1852 till 1887 he was forced to sell his estates, castles, an abbey, a monastery. In 1887, the Count sold the holdings and furnishings of the library of Buxheim Abbey. A once very wealthy family of the German high nobility had become destitute within a generation) (Collation: *8, 2*2, A03K8, 3L4 (gathering 2*2 erroneously bound between 3L1 and 3L2)) (Photographs on request)