The Life of Nicolas-Claude Fabri de Peiresc

to posterity, I would be utterly unjust if I were to refuse the task.
And indeed to his country; for it would seem a kind of impiety if I allowed that light to be obscured, by which, as it has flashed forth until now, so it can deservedly and wonderfully boast in the future; if that ornament were neglected, of which one might almost declare that none more magnificent has ever existed, or will ever exist. Indeed, not only all of Europe, but also Asia, and Africa, and even the New World itself original: "novus orbis." At the time of writing in 1641, this refers to the Americas, reflecting Peiresc's global network of correspondence. had their eyes turned toward this province because of him; and there was no one anywhere who was learned, or seeking knowledge, who did not strive either to meet him or at least to communicate with him through letters. Then it is also a duty to the present age; since it is in its interest that those who follow understand that nature itself was not exhausted; and that it was able to produce a great and distinguished man, who could be offered as an example to future centuries. Surely it is his great praise that he seems to have collected in himself alone all the virtues of all ages; and our age can so far exalt itself, because nature expressed in him whatever excellence the age of fables invented regarding Pandora. In Greek mythology, Pandora was the "all-gifted" woman, endowed with every virtue by the gods. Gassendi suggests Peiresc possessed a similar totality of intellectual and moral gifts. Finally, it is a duty to posterity itself; since they will find it most pleasant to know that man, to whose singular affection they will recognize they owe so much; by the imitation of whom, perhaps, some will be so held that they may spring forth like Phoenixes The Phoenix was a mythical bird that burned itself and was reborn from its own ashes. Gassendi hopes new scholars will rise from the inspiration of Peiresc’s life. from his ashes, not without some benefit to the human race

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