Skip to content
Libra Esoterica

Certain astrological and astronomical figures

cut out of a manuscript book dated 1410

Author not recorded

  • First published:
  • 15th century
  • Languages: Latin, Spanish
  • Content type: ManuscriptPrimary source

Collection of astrological and astronomical diagrams gathered from 3 earlier manuscripts. After a later parchment bifolium (f. 1-2, with inscription dated 1861 and 18th- or 19th-century English title) come 3 leaves from an early 15th-century English manuscript, perhaps the manuscript book dated 1410 referred to in the title on the later bifolium, possibly from the Liber juratus Honorii, attributed to Honorius of Thebes. These present magical diagrams that are a template for a horoscope (f. 3v), a circular zodiac calendar with no indication of year (f. 4r), and 2 diagrams related to Cabala as it was understood in Europe at the time (f. 4v-5r). An inscription describes the purchasing of the parent manuscript from Richard Chamberlain and a breakdown of the price for a manuscript of 25 gatherings, lining or ruling, binding, and materials (f. 3r). The next leaf, which is folded and comes from a different manuscript, shows a diagram of the earth surrounded by spheres of the elements with an explanation that suggests the diagram concerns the cause of tides (f. 6r) and 2 astronomical diagrams of concentric circles labeled Polus articus and Polus antarticus (f. 6v). The final leaf is from a Spanish manuscript and contains a mathematical table showing the use of Arabic numerals in the computation of large numbers (up to 22 places) for astronomical calculations, with notes using the Spanish terms cuento, millon, summa, and protocuendo (f. 7r). A plain diagram in ink of a labyrinth, drawn on the verso of a fragment of an English document on paper concerning a real estate transaction, is laid in the manuscript.

Provenance

Why this book is in the catalog

Included because retained bibliographic metadata links this work to Astrology, Kabbalah and Jewish esotericism, and Ritual magic and grimoires.

  • Ritual magic and grimoires

    Controlled discovery queries from colenda matched “Magic”. Retained metadata contains “Magic” in the subject metadata.

    • Magic· via Colenda Digital Repository — University of Pennsylvania Libraries
    • Magic· in subject
  • Astrology

    Controlled discovery queries from colenda matched “Astrology”. Retained metadata contains “astrological” in the title, “astrological” in the description, “horoscope” in the description, and 3 additional metadata match(es).

    • Astrology· via Colenda Digital Repository — University of Pennsylvania Libraries
    • astrological· in title
    • astrological· in description
    • horoscope· in description
    • zodiac· in description
    • Astrology· in subject
  • Kabbalah and Jewish esotericism

    Controlled discovery queries from colenda matched “Cabala”. Retained metadata contains “Cabala” in the description and “Cabala” in the subject metadata.

    • Cabala· via Colenda Digital Repository — University of Pennsylvania Libraries
    • Cabala· in description
    • Cabala· in subject

Membership records how this book met the catalog’s discovery criteria — relevance to a tradition, not a judgment of the book’s claims.

Read & download

Free, public copies reported by our sources. Links open the source directly.

marks a direct file download. Rights vary by country; each source states its own terms.

Buy or borrow

No ISBN on record, so the Amazon link searches by title and author. WorldCat shows libraries near you that hold a copy.

Editions

One edition cataloged here.

cut out of a manuscript book dated 1410

University of Pennsylvania digitized manuscript

7 leaves : parchment ; 170-208 x 130 mm bound to 187 x 145 mm + 1 note; Binding: 19th-century quarter marbled paper over cardboard.; Collation: Parchment, 7; 1² 2-5¹.; Decoration: Diagrams in blue and red (f. 3v, 4v, 5r) or brown with red (f. 6r) or red and blue (f. 6v); checkerboard pattern in ink (f. 7v).; Latin, with a few words in Spanish (f. 7r).; Lawrence J. Schoenberg & Barbara Brizdle Manuscript Initiative.; Ms. codex.; Origin: Written in England and Spain, ca. 1410 (date cited in later note, f. 2r).; Related Work: Honourius. Sworn book of Honorius. Selections.; Script: Written in Gothic book and cursive scripts.; Title from 19th-century added title page (f. 2r).

1410Latin, SpanishPublic download

Subjects

7 subject headings

Identifiers & provenance

How this record was assembled, and the authority identifiers it carries.

Identifiers

Colenda
  • ark:/81431/p30m06

Cataloged from

Cataloging notes

  • Colenda collection: Lawrence J. Schoenberg Collection (University of Pennsylvania)
  • Penn Libraries catalog identifier: 9950511113503681
  • Physical location: Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscripts, Manuscripts, LJS 226
  • Provenance: Chetwode, John, Sir, 1764-1845, former owner.; Deposit by Lawrence J. Schoenberg and Barbara Brizdle, 2011.; Formerly owned by Sir John Chetwode of Oakley Hall, Staffordshire (armorial bookplate, inside upper cover).; Gift of Barbara Brizdle Schoenberg, 2021.; Lethe, Johannes, former owner.; Part of the manuscript (f. 3-5) produced and sold by Richard Chamberlain (inscription, f. 3r).; Part of the manuscript (f. 7) formerly owned by Johannes Lethe (inscription, f. 7r).; Sold by Sam Fogg Ltd. (London) to Lawrence J. Schoenberg, Jul. 1997.
  • Rights: http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/NoC-US/1.0
Catalog id
colenda:81431-p30m06
Edition coverage
Multi source partial
Retrieved