physician to Henry II. Francis II. and. Charles IX, Kings of France, and one of the best astronomers that ever were. A work full of curiosity and learning. Translated and commented by Theophilus de Garencieres.
London, printed by Thomas Ratcliffe, and Nathaniel Thompson, and are to be sold by John Martin et al., 1672
Important astrological work containing over 1000 predictions. The first edition in English of the most famous and enduring work of Western prophecy.
A fine copy of the True Prophecies or Prognostications of Michel Nostradamus (1503-1566), an influential work of judicial-astrology containing over 1000 predictions in rhyming quatrains heralding future socio-historic events, the majority arranged into centuries containing 100 predictions, with an additional 58 spurious prophecies 'For the Years of this Age 1600'.
Nostradamus 'began his prophetic writings in the early 1540s with a series of short yearly almanacs in which he made predictions in verse. The new art of printing gratified a popular demand for supernaturally acquired "certainty" and such almanacs were a common literary production of the day. It was with Les Prophéties (1555), however, that Nostradamus became an author of contemporary reputation and a figure who has had an impact on later history' (Clute & Grant).
Translated into English, with parallel text in the original French, and a commentary by the physician Theophilus de Garencières (d.1680). A Parisian by birth, Garencières had been based at Oxford during the English Civil War, and his interpretations leave no doubt as to his Royalist sympathies. Our copy with contemporary marginal annotations in the form of crosses marking-out many of the passages relating to England.
Popular since its first publication, no other work of Western prophecy has exerted such a powerful influence over public imagination. As such, Nostradamus has always courted controversy — the first recorded use of the term 'prediction' in English comes from the title of William Fulke's Antiprognosticon attacking the 'vayne and unprofitable predictions of the Astrologian such as Nostrodame'. Nevertheless, supporters have continued to credit the Prophecies with predicting real-world events from the Great Fire of London to the Second World War, and the work remains in print today.
'More than any other writer in modern times Nostradamus knew how to titillate the deep-seated craving, felt by potentate and plebian alike, to foresee the future, near and remote' (DSB).
First edition in English; folio (30.5 x 20.5 cm); parallel text in English and French, engraved portrait frontispiece by William Dolle, title in red and black, dated ownership inscription in pen to front free endpaper recto, occasional marginal 'x' annotations in pen; contemporary speckled calf, spine gilt in 6 banded-compartments of floral sprays within stylised vases and bowls, brown morocco lettering-piece, joints, spine-caps, and corners expertly restored, sprinkled edges, a fine copy; [36], 522pp.
ESTC R13646; Wing 1399; Kenney 134; Clute/Grant 694; Lowndes VI, p.1708.
A fine copy of the True Prophecies or Prognostications of Michel Nostradamus (1503-1566), an influential work of judicial-astrology containing over 1000 predictions in rhyming quatrains heralding future socio-historic events, the majority arranged into centuries containing 100 predictions, with an additional 58 spurious prophecies 'For the Years of this Age 1600'.
Nostradamus 'began his prophetic writings in the early 1540s with a series of short yearly almanacs in which he made predictions in verse. The new art of printing gratified a popular demand for supernaturally acquired "certainty" and such almanacs were a common literary production of the day. It was with Les Prophéties (1555), however, that Nostradamus became an author of contemporary reputation and a figure who has had an impact on later history' (Clute & Grant).
Translated into English, with parallel text in the original French, and a commentary by the physician Theophilus de Garencières (d.1680). A Parisian by birth, Garencières had been based at Oxford during the English Civil War, and his interpretations leave no doubt as to his Royalist sympathies. Our copy with contemporary marginal annotations in the form of crosses marking-out many of the passages relating to England.
Popular since its first publication, no other work of Western prophecy has exerted such a powerful influence over public imagination. As such, Nostradamus has always courted controversy — the first recorded use of the term 'prediction' in English comes from the title of William Fulke's Antiprognosticon attacking the 'vayne and unprofitable predictions of the Astrologian such as Nostrodame'. Nevertheless, supporters have continued to credit the Prophecies with predicting real-world events from the Great Fire of London to the Second World War, and the work remains in print today.
'More than any other writer in modern times Nostradamus knew how to titillate the deep-seated craving, felt by potentate and plebian alike, to foresee the future, near and remote' (DSB).
First edition in English; folio (30.5 x 20.5 cm); parallel text in English and French, engraved portrait frontispiece by William Dolle, title in red and black, dated ownership inscription in pen to front free endpaper recto, occasional marginal 'x' annotations in pen; contemporary speckled calf, spine gilt in 6 banded-compartments of floral sprays within stylised vases and bowls, brown morocco lettering-piece, joints, spine-caps, and corners expertly restored, sprinkled edges, a fine copy; [36], 522pp.
ESTC R13646; Wing 1399; Kenney 134; Clute/Grant 694; Lowndes VI, p.1708.
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