GAURICO, Luca.

by Luca Gaurico

£3,750 · Offered by Sokol Books

.Interesting and attractive copy of the first edition of Gaurico s ephemerides. Books of this kind had .wide circulation, but complete copies are rare and sought after. This one, with interesting .contemporary annotations and loosely inserted papers of an early owner, is an outstanding witness of .the 16 th century s great interest and expertise in astrology. .Luca Gaurico (1475-1558) was the astrological consultant of Caterina de Medici and one of the .greatest astrologers of all time (Cantamessa). Born to a to a poor family of Gauro (Kingdom of .Naples), Gaurico taught at the Universities of Bologna and Ferrara. He was exiled and tortured by the .ruler of Bologna, Giovanni II Bentivoglio, dissatisfied with the astrologer s prophecies about his .destiny. Gaurico predicted the papacy of Alessandro Farnese, Pope Paul III, who welcomed him in .Rome as his personal astrologer and made him table companion , knight and later bishop. . Ephemerides recognitae contains the ephemerides for the years 1534-1551. These are detailed tables .listing the predicted positions of stars and planets at regular intervals of date and time in the future, as .well as the occurrence of eclipses. The numerical data was used by astrologers to compile birth charts .(like the one sketched in ink on a loosely inserted piece of paper) and formulate predictions. Similar .tables were also used by navigators to determine their position using celestial bodies or stars. An .initial section contains preliminary

• Binding: Hardcover

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