HAVERFORD COLLEGE RETURNS RARE DESCARTES DOCUMENT

A HISTORICALLY VALUABLE 17th CENTURY LETTER WAS HIDING IN PLAIN SIGHT, AVAILABLE TO ALMOST ANYONE WHO CHECKED THE 'D' DRAWER OF THE LIBRARY CARD CATALOG AT HAVERFORD COLLEGE IN PENNSYLVANIA. 'DESCARTES, RENE (1596-1650) FRENCH PHILOSOPHER. 'MON REVEREND PERE' 27 MAY,1641 (?) (IN FRENCH)', READS THE HANDWRITTEN INDEX CARD. YET THE SIGNED MISSIVE FROM DESCARTES, A PIVOTAL FIGURE IN WESTERN PHILOSOPHY AND MATHEMATICS, HAD REMAINED UNNOTICED BY SCHOLARS AND HISTORIANS FOR MORE THAN A CENTURY UNTIL A HAVERFORD LIBRARIAN POSTED ITS EXISTENCE ONLINE LAST FALL. THE DISCOVERY OF THE FAMOUS, LONG-LOST LETTER AT FIRST SEEMED AN ARCHIVIST'S DREAM, BUT, IT BRIEFLY TURNED INTO A NIGHTMARE WHEN COLLEGE OFFICIALS REALIZED THE DOCUMENT HAD ILLICIT ORIGINS. THE HAPPY ENDING COMES NEXT WEEK WHEN HAVERFORD RETURNS THE LETTER TO ITS RIGHTFUL OWNER IN PARIS. 'WE'RE NOT IN THE BUSINESS OF KEEPING STOLEN PROPERTY', COLLEGE PRESIDENT STEPHEN EMERSON SAID. THE LETTER WAS ONE OF THOUSANDS PILFERED FROM THE FRENCH LIBRARIES IN THE 1800s BY GUGLIELMO LIBRI, THE DIRECTOR ENTRUSTED WITH THEIR CARE. HE WAS CONVICTED IN ABSENTIA OF SEVERAL THEFTS IN FRANCE IN 1850 BUT HAD ALREADY FLED TO ENGLAND, SELLING THE DOCUMENTS TO COLLECTORS AND BOOKSELLERS. SOMEHOW, DESCARTES' FOUR-PAGE, TIGHTLY SCRIPTED CORRESPONDENCE ENDED UP IN A 12,000 PIECE COLLECTION DONATED TO HAVERFORD IN 1902 BY THE WIDOW OF ALUMNUS CHARLES ROBERTS. COLLEGE OFFICIALS BELIEVE ROBERTS, WHO COLLECTED AUTOGRAPHS, HAD NO IDEA OF THE LETTER'S PROVENANCE. DESCARTES ('I THINK, THEREFORE I AM') HAD WRITTEN THE DISPATCH TO A PRIEST FRIEND TO DISCUSS HIS STRUGGLE WITH WHAT WOULD BECOME HIS SEMINAL BOOK, 'MEDITATIONS ON FIRST PHILOSOPHY'. IT IS NOW A BASIC TEXT FOR COLLEGE PHILOSOPHY STUDENTS. THE LETTER REMAINED INCONSPICUOUS AT HAVERFORD, AN ELITE LIBERAL ARTS COLLEGE NEAR PHILADELPHIA, UNTIL THE HEAD OF COLLECTIONS POSTED AN INVENTORY OF THE ROBERTS' TROVE ONLINE. A DESCARTES RESEARCHER AT THE UNIVERSITY OF UTRECHT IN THE NETHERLANDS FOUND THE LISTING AND ASKED FOR A SCAN OF THE LETTER. FURTHER INVESTIGATION, INCLUDING AN ULTRAVIOLET LIGHT THAT APPEARED TO REVEAL WHERE LIBRI SCRAPED OFF A PROPERTY STAMP. EMERSON, THE COLLEGE PRESIDENT, IMMEDIATELY KNEW HE WANTED TO RETURN THE LETTER TO THE INSTITUT DE FRANCE. THE INSTITUTE'S CHANCELLOR WAS SO THRILLED HE OFFERED HAVERFORD A REWARD OF $19,000. EMERSON WILL ACCEPT THE GIFT AT THE 8.JUNE HANDOVER CEREMONY IN PARIS. THE MONEY WILL BE USED TO SUPPORT STUDENTS STUDYING FRENCH LANGUAGE AND CULTURE.