Tetrabiblos (Quadripartite)
Ptolemy, active 2nd century
Incunabula
Judaica
Excerpts
Astrology
The <i>Tetrabiblos</i> examines the influence of the stars on human affairs.
Ptolemy, active 2nd century
Boneto Locatelli
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text
Latin
DigID0002795
Astronomica
Judaica
Manuscripts (document genre)
Astrology
Astronomy
Eclipses
This is a collection of 38 treatises on astronomy, astrology, and mathematics, including one of León Hebreo, <em>(De coniunctione Saturni et Iovis anni Christi 1345 (On the conjunction of Saturn and Jupiter in the year of our Lord 1345)</em>.
Unknown
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text
Latin
DigID0002790
Sefer Goralot
Avraham ben Me
Manuscripts (document genre)
Judaica
Cabala
Astrology
A treatise on <em>Kabbalah</em>, astrology and fortunetelling with elaborate diagrams of the zodiac. Ibn Ezra was an earnest apologist for astrology and translated many astrological treatises from Arabic into Hebrew. Maimonides, using Biblical law as a guide, was an early and important critic of this “science”, although predictions of the coming of the Messiah depended heavily on it.
Avraham ben Me'ir Ibn 'Ezra, 1092-1167
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text
Hebrew
DigID0002766
De Astrologia
Maimonides, Moses, 1135-1204
Astronomy
Excerpts
Maimonides was probably the most famous Jewish physician of all time but known also as a philosopher, theologian, and astronomer. The <em>De Astrologia</em>, his letter to the rabbis of Marseilles condemning astrology, was composed in 1194; this is the first printed edition and contains facing-page texts in Latin and Hebrew.
Maimonides, Moses, 1135-1204
per Iacobum Soterem
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text
Latin, Hebrew
text
DigID0002709
Lines of the hand and their associated zodiac symbols
Incunabula
Woodcuts (prints)
Zodiac symbols
Chiromancy or palmistry is the study of the lines and shapes of the human hand to determine an individual's characteristics and analyze past, present, and future events. Books on the subject were among the most popular incunables produced. This brief manual on chiromancy identifies the lines of the hand and associates areas of the palm with the sun, moon, and planets as an aid to astrological divination.
Unknown
Bernardinus Benalius
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image
still image
DigID0002511
Ein hubscher Tractat von dem Ursprung des Bösen Franzos
Incunabula
Grünpeck, Joseph, approximately 1473-approximately 1532
Woodcuts (prints)
This small pamphlet on syphilis [<em>A Fine Treatise on the Origin of the French Evil</em>] was enormously popular, appearing in four different editions in Latin and German in the last years of the fifteenth century. The pamphlet was printed during the course of a syphilis epidemic which originated in France and reached Germany in 1495. Joseph Grünpeck theorized that the outbreak was caused by a disastrous conjunction of the planets Jupiter and Saturn.
Grünpeck, Joseph, approximately 1473-approximately 1532
Caspar Hochfeder
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image
still image
DigID0002527
Fasciculus medicinae
Incunabula
Woodcuts (prints)
Ketham, Joannes de, active 15th century
Zodiac symbols
Anatomy
Although notable as one of the first incunables acquired by the Boston Medical Library, this first edition of the <i>Fasciculus medicinae</i> is also a cornerstone in the history of medicine, as it contains the first detailed anatomical illustrations ever printed. There are six woodcuts in the <i>Fasciculus</i>: a circle of urine glasses; a diagram of the veins for phlebotomy; a pregnant woman; a chart of wounds and one of disesases; and a second phlebotomy diagram which associates the parts of the body with the signs of the Zodiac.
Ketham, Joannes de, active 15th century
Johannes et Gregorius de Gregoriis
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image
Latin
still image
DigID0002508