[ACADÉMIE DES SCIENCES].

£2,750 · Offered by Sokol Books

An excellent ms., on thick high-quality paper, of this fascinating work a meteorological perpetual calendar from 1521 to the end of the world, and an agricultural almanac, with numerous observations on wine. It was prepared in 1680 by the Acad émie des Sciences for François-Michel Le Tellier (1641-91), Marquis de Louvois, Secretary of War under Louis XIV. In the preliminaries, the work is attributed to the mysterious Neapolitan philosopher Joseph le Juste, frequently listed, in C18 French prophetic collections, alongside Pythagoras and Nostradamus. The figure of Joseph Le Juste was already present in prophetic literature and almanacs. the biblical Joseph, who interpreted dreams, who had received a revelation from an angel concerning the prediction of good and bad days (Halbron, Vaticinations , 2014). The Acad émie had allegedly collected the prophecies which had passed their tests, hence were deemed infallible and truthful a witty fiction ( Journal de Paris , 1807, 445). After a brief introduction on seasonal time, the work provides a meteorological perpetual calendar, in 28-year cycles, suggesting best practices in agriculture, fishing and cloth manufacture in relation to the weather. Great attention is paid to wine-making, with St Jean, Rochelle, Soitou, Auxerre and Champagne being the most profitable, resistant and tasty wines, and to the wine trade, with observations on the fluctuations of prices according to the quality of the harvest, the supply of specific wines and th

• Binding: Hardcover

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