An authorized reprint of Veitch's translation of Descartes' Discourse on Method has already been published as No.38 of the Religion of Science Library. The present volume is a reprint of the remainder of Veitch's translations of Descartes representative speculative treatises. The Meditations on the First Philosophy are translated entire, and the preface and the first part of the Principles of Philosophy, together with selections from the second, third and fourth parts of that work, corresponding to the extracts in the French edition of Gamier, are also given, as well as an appendix containing part of Descartes' reply to the Second Objections (viz., his formal demonstrations of the existence of Deity), and Veitch's notes. The translations are based on the original Latin editions of the Meditations and Principles, published respectively in 1641 and 1644. Both works having been translated into French during Descartes' lifetime, and personally revised and corrected by him, the French text is evidently deserving of the same consideration as the Latin originals, and consequently, the additions and variations of the French version have also been given - the additions being put in square brackets in the text and the variations in the footnotes.
Dr. C. Guttler, of the University of Munich, has just published (Munich: C.H. Beck.1901) a new critical and annotated edition of both the Latin and French texts of the Meditations, and students desirous of consulting the sources may be referred to this easily accessible book. Dr. Guttler made use of the copy of the original Latin edition (1641), preserved in the Bibliotheque Nationale at Paris, and of the copy of the original French translation by the Due de Luynes (1647) found in the University Library at Gottingen. Literal copies of the title-pages of these original editions, as given in Dr. Guttler's work, are also reproduced in the present volume. The most recent French edition of the Meditations is that of Émile Thouverez (Paris: Belin Freres. 1898).
