Polignac - Anti-Lucretius - 1747

A CARDINAL AGAINST ATOMS AND LIGHT-ILLUMINIST MATERIALISM
The Anti-Lucretius sive de Deo et Natura of Melchior de Polignac represents one of the most ambitious philosophical poems of the eighteenth century. Conceived as a direct response to Lucretius’ De rerum natura, the nine parts of the work defend the theistic conception of the universe against Epicurean materialism and atomism, which in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries were reemerging in European natural philosophy. Polignac deliberately uses the poetic language and the didactic structure of the classical Latin epic to refute the materialistic view of nature and to reaffirm the provident order of the cosmos. Published posthumously in Paris in 1747 and immediately celebrated among European learned circles, the poem enjoyed numerous reissues and translations. The Paris edition in two volumes constitutes the princeps of the work and one of the most important examples of Latin philosophical poetry of the Enlightenment era.
MARKET VALUE
The first edition of 1747 of the Anti-Lucretius, published in Paris in two volumes, appears with fair regularity on the antiquarian market but remains highly sought after for its significance in the history of natural philosophy and modern Latin poetry. Complete copies of the two volumes in contemporary bindings typically fetch between 500 and 700 euros on the international antiquarian market.

PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION AND CONDITION
2 volumes. Contemporary full-leather bindings with raised bands on spine; boards show wear and abrasions, restorations to the spine. Paper with some browning and foxing. Engraved portrait of the author at the beginning of the work within an oval, depicting Cardinal Melchior de Polignac. Separate typographic title pages for each volume. In old books with a long history, occasional imperfections may be present, not always noted in the description. Pp. (4); 6nn; 30; 4nn; 180; (4). (4); 4nn; 181-450; (2).

FULL TITLE AND AUTHOR
Anti-Lucretius sive de Deo et Natura libri novem.
Parisiis, Apud Desaint & Saillant, 1747.
Melchior de Polignac.

CONTEXT AND SIGNIFICANCE
The Anti-Lucretius was born as a literary and philosophical reply to Lucretius’ De rerum natura, the great Epicurean poem of antiquity that proposed a materialistic vision of the universe based on atomism. Between the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, the rediscovery of Epicurean theories, together with the development of modern science, reopened the debate on the structure of matter and the role of God in nature. Polignac entered this debate by adopting the same poetic form as Lucretius to confute his theses. The nine books of the work address central themes of natural philosophy: the existence of God, the structure of the universe, the critique of atomism, the providential order of nature, and the harmony of the cosmos. The poem combines classical erudition, philosophical argument, and stylistic imitation of Latin models, showing the extraordinary vitality of humanistic culture even in the height of the Enlightenment. Upon its publication the work was welcomed with great enthusiasm in European scholarly circles and became one of the most famous texts of modern Latin poetry, read both as a philosophical treatise and as a high-level literary exercise.

BIOGRAPHY OF THE AUTHOR
Melchior de Polignac (Le Puy-en-Velay, 1661 – Paris, 1741) was a cardinal, diplomat, and French man of letters. Educated by the Jesuits, he became a prominent figure in European diplomacy and participated in important political missions for the French monarchy. At the same time he cultivated a deep passion for classical studies and Latin poetry. The Anti-Lucretius, the result of many years of work and published posthumously in 1747, represents his literary masterpiece and one of the most important works of Latin philosophical poetry of the modern era.

PRINTING HISTORY AND CIRCULATION
The work was published for the first time in Paris in 1747, six years after the author’s death, under the supervision of Abbot Charles d’Orléans de Rothelin. The edition was printed by the Desaint & Saillant workshop, an important Parisian publishing house specializing in learned and classical texts. The success was immediate: the work was reprinted several times during the eighteenth century and translated into French, English, and Italian. Thanks to its combination of classical poetry and philosophical polemic against modern materialism, the Anti-Lucretius remained for decades one of the most widely read texts in European academic and religious circles.

BIBLIOGRAPHY AND REFERENCES
WorldCat, Anti-Lucretius sive de Deo et Natura libri novem, Paris, Desaint & Saillant, 1747.
BNF Catalogue général, Melchior de Polignac, Anti-Lucrèce.
J. S. Spink, French Free-Thought from Gassendi to Voltaire, London, 1960.
T. Gregory, Atomismo e filosofia moderna, Roma-Bari, Laterza, 1984.
Catholic Encyclopedia, entry “Melchior de Polignac”.
Catalogue général de la Bibliothèque nationale de France, editions of the Anti-Lucretius, 1747.