De nostri temporis studiorum ratione [with] De antiquissima Italorum sapientia ex linguae Latinae originibus ereunda libri tres (1710); Risposta nella quale si sciogliono tre gravi oppositioni fatte da dotto signore (1711); Risposta all'articolo X. del tomo VIII. del Giornale de' letterati d'Italia (1712). -

Naples, Felice Mosca, 1709-1712. . First editions; four works in one volume, 12mo, (15.5 x 9.5 cm); small woodcut device to titles, woodcut headpieces and initials, some leaves browned, scattered light foxing; later quarter brown morocco, gilt lettering to spine, raised bands, some wear to boards and extremities, corners slightly rubbed, marbled endpapers, overall a good firm copy; 126, [2]; 130, [2]; 48; 93, [3]pp. An exceedingly scarce Vico sammelband, comprising four first edition works.De nostri temporis studiorum ratione, or 'On the Study Method of Our Times', is an oration comparing classical political-philosophical thought with the modernists, especially modern jurisprudence, drawing attention to what the two can learn from each other. It is described by Healey as 'perhaps the most brilliant defence of the humanities ever written' (p294) and is rich with Vico's reflections about educative methods. Notably, this volume includes Vico's first major publication, Liber Primus Metaphysicus, which contains the fullest statement of the verum factum principle. The principle states that truth is verified through creation and not, as per Descartes, through observation. This anti-Cartesian philosophical standpoint in De antiquissima sapientia was to continue for a further two books, the Liber Secundus Physicus and Liber Tertius Moralis, yet these were never completed. In response to criticism of De antiquissima sapientia by the Giornale dei letterati d'Italia in 1711, Vico published two Replies in 1711 and 1712 (bound here). In these, he defends and clarifies his views on the theory of knowledge and metaphysics, with the second taking an even stronger stance against Descartes' methodology than the first. This exchange between Vico and the Giornale was considered by both parties to be the natural completion of the De antiquissima sapientia.Despite having been relatively unknown in the eighteenth century, and read only in his native Naples, the ideas of Vico are predecessors to the ideas of the intellectuals of the Enlightenment. Moreover, recognition of Vico's intellectual influence began in the nineteenth century, and his works would go on to influence the likes of Karl Marx, W.B. Yeats, and James Joyce.