Un gnomoniste amateur et ses livres au début du règne de Louis XIV : La bibliothèque de Charles du Tertre à la lumière de son catalogue domestique

Résumé 0

This article analyses the library of a seventeenth-century lawyer from Le Mans, Charles du Tertre, whose domestic catalogue has been found in the Sarthe Public Record Office. After some biographical information about this individual and his succession, the article examines the structure and content of this domestic catalogue. This document provides an accurate picture of a lawyer’s library, which contained over a thousand volumes and was particularly well-stocked with mathematical works in addition to the more expected legal titles. As we know from his probate inventory, Charles du Tertre also kept craft workshops in his house, in particular a turnery and gnomonic workshop. These scientific and craft interests aligned with those of his younger brother, Jacques du Tertre, a Capuchin missionary and astronomer, who gained prominence in the latter half of the seventeenth century while serving at the court of the Shah of Persia.