The Life of Nicolas-Claude Fabri de Peiresc

BOOK ONE.

1596. ...therefore he made use of it, calling it a "digestive" in letters sent to his father original: "digestiuum". Peiresc likely meant the tool helped him process or "digest" the complex movements of the stars.. Since I have mentioned his letters, it is worth noting that even then he wrote everything with great care. He practiced his style through repeated drafts on small slips of paper. These have come into my hands and prove that his phrasing was never excessive or immature. He always said exactly what he intended using common words. However, he chose his words with care, grace, and a politeness that made him wonderful at expressing kindness, respect, and gratitude. He was equally skilled at making excuses, recommending others, or offering congratulations.

For example, he once wrote to his stepmother regarding some small gifts: "We seem happy, mother, because we are heaped with your favors; but we are unhappy nonetheless when we are so overwhelmed by them that we are unable to properly acknowledge them." While writing such things, he would send back whatever small return-gifts he could. Even at that age, he hated to be outdone in generosity, unless he was simply unable to provide anything. Writing to a friend of his own age, he expressed his hatred for ingratitude: "I would lay hands on myself," he said, "if I could be accused of even the slightest neglect in my duty." To this same end, he would praise the hard work of his teachers so that his father and uncle would give them rewards far more generous than what they had promised.

To speak again of his studies: his uncle did not allow him to spend the full three years on Philosophy. Instead, once his year at Tournon was finished in 1597. 1597, his uncle wanted him recalled to Aix-en-Provence original: "Aquas-Sextias". This is the ancient Roman name for the city of Aix.. Since he was destined for the Senate The Parlement of Provence, which was a high court of justice rather than a legislative body., his uncle wanted him to begin his training in Jurisprudence The study and theory of law.. His uncle had requested this even while Peiresc was still at Tournon, writing that...