Palmaverde - Il Corso delle Stelle - 1792

COURSE OF THE STARS AND DESTINY OF PRINCES: THE ALMANAC THAT PREDICTS THE FUTURE
This rare Piedmontese almanac for the leap year 1792, entitled The Course of the Stars Observed by the Modern Prognostication Palmaverde, belongs to that astrologico-popular tradition which, between the sixteenth and eighteenth centuries, constituted a true instrument of social orientation.
In a pocket format, intended for daily consultation, the sky is translated into a calendar, forecast, moral and political admonition. The year 1792, crucial for revolutionary Europe, thus takes on symbolic value: as history accelerates, the almanac attempts to bring the uncertainty of human time back to the cyclical order of the stars.
MARKET VALUE
Piedmontese almanacs from the late eighteenth century, especially if preserved in a high-quality contemporary binding with gold-tooling on the whole, are relatively uncommon on the market. Elegant bindings, with an appropriate or late eighteenth-century case, can be valued in a range between €1,200 and €2,500, depending on completeness, paper freshness, and the quality of the gilding.

PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION AND CONDITION
Contemporary full-leather binding with gold tooling on the cover within a phytomorphic frame; spine decorated with gilded motifs; kept in a marbled paper (cartonato) case. Manuscript notes. Illustrated frontispiece. In old books with a centuries-long history, some imperfections may be present, not always noted in the description. Pages: pp. (2); 176; (2).

FULL TITLE AND AUTHOR
The Course of the Stars Observed by the Modern Prognostication Palmaverde: Piedmontese Almanac for the Leap Year 1792.
Turin, Nella Stamperia Fontana, 1792.
Palmaverde.

CONTEXT AND SIGNIFICANCE
Piedmontese astrological almanacs of the late eighteenth century fit into a long tradition that unites practical astronomy, judicial astrology, and popular culture. The “modern prognostication Palmaverde” evokes a pseudonymous figure typical of this genre, behind whom often lies a learned editor mindful of the market. The almanac does not merely provide the calendar: it integrates information on planetary motions, lunar phases, weather forecasts, agricultural guidance, and sometimes veiled political allusions. In 1792, the year of the proclamation of the Republic in France and the onset of profound European upheavals, consulting the sky also assumes a reassuring value: the cosmic order as an antidote to historical disorder. Culturally, these booklets represent a valuable testimony to the persistence of the astrological imagination in the Enlightenment, in dialogue – and at times in tension – with the new science.

BIOGRAPHY OF THE AUTHOR
The name “Palmaverde” is plausibly an editorial pseudonym, in line with a widespread practice in the production of almanacs between the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. The authors of such works were often compilers, printers, or local scholars who reformulated astronomical tables and predictive models already in circulation, adapting them to the regional context and the intended audience.

PRINTING HISTORY AND CIRCULATION
Piedmontese almanacs were printed annually in relatively small print runs, aimed at an urban and rural public. Their ephemeral nature—daily consultation, practical use, sometimes handwritten annotations—has drastically reduced their survival in good condition. The presence of an elegant binding with gold tooling suggests private patronage or a gift, elevating the copy from a simple popular instrument to an object of social distinction.

BIBLIOGRAPHY AND REFERENCES
ICCU/OPAC SBN: to be verified (specific search for Piedmontese almanacs of 1792 and the pseudonym “Palmaverde”).
Piedmontese regional catalogs of the eighteenth century: to be verified.
General studies on Italian almanacs of the eighteenth century and on popular astrological culture: to be integrated with specific repertoires (Einaudi, Annali della Tipografia subalpina; local repertoires of eighteenth-century Piedmontese printing).