Rudolf Goclenius ml. (1572-1621)

Paul Egenolff (1553-1625)

ROD. GOCLENII, MED. D. ET MATHEM. PROFESSORIS ORDIN. IN ACAD. MARPURGENSI, ACROTELEUTION ASTROLOGICUM

Marburg, 1618
Triplex hominum genus circa divinationem ex astris in scenam producens, falsam[que] astrologiam à vera, rationibus, exemplis & experimentis distinguens, contra novas criminationes. Octavo, 18x15 cm. 78 numbered pages, in Latin. Title page printed in black, bearing a printer`s device (signet). Soft sewn binding without boards. Published by Paul Egenolff in Marburg in 1618. Goclenius wrote the treatise in response to the attacks on astrology current at the time. He distinguishes three human attitudes toward astrology – those who reject it blindly, those who believe in charlatan superstitions, and those who approach it scientifically and rationally. He defends so-called natural astrology (astronomical calculations, the influence of celestial bodies on weather, medicine and biology), but distances himself from fatalistic judicial astrology, which claimed to be able to precisely predict free human will or a specific fate. The volume`s unique value is enhanced by the complete reprint of a rare astrological-meteorological treatise on the conjunctions of planets and comets by the eminent Czech Renaissance astronomer Cyprián Lvovický of Lvovice. For collectors, this is a highly prized document of early modern science and occult learning with a direct connection to Renaissance Bohemica. Damaged in proportion to the age of the book and the absence of a sturdy binding.