Martin Meurisse’s Garden of Logic • 1614

 Artificiosa totius logices descriptio. Author/Artist: Meurisse, Martin, 1584-1644. Published/Created: Paris? : s.n., 1614?  General: 1 sheet ([1] p.) : ill. (etching) ; 60 x 40 cm. (plate mark 56 x 37 cm.)  Notes: Dedication signed: F. M. Meurisse.  At foot of sheet: De hac Thesi horis et dieb[us] solitis respondebunt fratres logici in Conventu fratrum minorum Parisiensium a Calendas Iunij ad Calendas Augusti Anno Domini MDCXIIII.  Two sheets pasted together, with the coat of arms of J.A. de Thou and the Franciscans, dedication to Thou and title on the upper half, and elaborate emblematic illustration below.

Artificiosa totius logices descriptio. [‘Artful
description of logic in its entirety’] [by] Martin Meurisse, 1584-1644.
Published: Paris: s.n., 1614
Description: 1 sheet ([1] p.) : ill. (engraving) ; 60 x 40 cm. (plate mark 56 x 37 cm.)
Notes: Dedication signed: F. M. Meurisse.
At foot of sheet: De hac Thesi horis et dieb[us] solitis respondebunt fratres logici in Conventu fratrum minorum Parisiensium a Calendas Iunij ad Calendas Augusti Anno Domini MDCXIIII. [‘The logician brothers will respond to this thesis in the Convent of the Friars Minor at Paris at the usual hours and days from the calends of June (first day) to the calends of August in the year of our Lord 1614.’] • Two sheets pasted together, with the coat of arms of J.A. de Thou and the Franciscans, dedication to Thou and title on the upper half, and elaborate emblematic illustration below. Call number: Princeton Univeristy Library. Rare Book Division: (EX) Broadside 119
For large image: https://libweb5.princeton.edu/visual_materials/Misc/Art_tot_log_des/atld.jpg

For an admirable study of this wonderful artifact of 17th century learning, see Susanna Berger, “Martin Meurisse’s Garden of Logic” in Journal of the Warburg and Courtauld Institutes, Volume LXXVI (2013), p. 203-250. [Link]

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About Stephen Ferguson

Stephen Ferguson is Librarian Emeritus, Princeton University Library. He came to Princeton in 1975 to be Curator of Rare Books, after several years of professional work at the John Carter Brown Library (Brown University) and the National Heritage Museum (Lexington, Mass.). Between 2014 and 2026, he held various posts as an Associate University Librarian at Princeton. He has degrees from Bowdoin (A.B.) and Rutgers (M.L.S.). His scholarly interests include book history, provenance research, and the history of collecting. He has taught at Drew University on the latter topic.