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News

News: April/May 2010

Stolen Descartes letter found • Philosophy football: the big match • Schrödinger’s strip • Shock finding: choice causes anxiety! — News reports by Sue Roberts

Descartes Letter Found

A letter by René Descartes, in his own handwriting, has been discovered in the library of Haverford College, a small liberal arts college in Pennsylvania. The four-page letter of 27th May 1641 from Descartes to his friend Marin Mersenne throws important light on the composition of Descartes’ Meditations on First Philosophy.

A Dutch scholar, Dr Erik-Jan Bos, had noticed a mention of the letter while Googling a collection of autograph letters at the library of Haverford College. He contacted John Anderies, head of special collections at the library, and together they established that it was an authentic, previously-unknown letter by the philosopher. The letter was one of thousands stolen in the 19th century by Count Guglielmo Libri, secretary of the committee for the general catalogue of manuscripts in French public libraries.

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