Cortés - El non plus ultra de el lunario, y pronostico perpetuo, general y particular para cada - 1793

Edition of extraordinary rarity, printed in Barcelona in the year 1793, of one of the most popular books on astrology and prophecies in the Castilian language, the Lunary and Perpetual Prognostication by Jerónimo Cortés (1560–1611), astronomer, astrologer, mathematician, and natural scientist from Valencia.

The work, highly valued by bibliophiles, contains interpretations of imminent signals such as eclipses, comets, and constellations, advice on health, signals of earthquakes, pestilences, weather forecasts according to the ruling planet, recommendations of dates for sowing and harvesting, bleedings or travel, etc. The copy is illustrated with numerous engravings within the text and on full pages that depict, among other things, the signs of the zodiac, the planets, the nature of the winds, rules to determine the time of night, the months, perpetual calendars, etc.

Particularly interesting and famous is the full-page engraving “Dominion of the planets in the human body” (not present in all editions), which assigns to each organ of the human body a zodiac sign, planet, or star, highlighting the importance of medieval astrology for medical purposes (p. 233 in this copy).

This Barcelona edition by Piferrer is rare. It does not bear the date on the title data, but it was printed in 1793 according to the Biblioteca Foral de Bizkaia. It is the first edition by Juan Francisco Piferrer, king’s printer, published in the very year Juan Francisco takes control of the family workshop. It appears with the imprint line: “En la Oficina de Juan Francisco Piferrer, impresor de S.M. Plaza del Angel.” Bound in full contemporary leather. Worn as is customary for such books, yet strong and solid. Old bookplate on the flyleaf from the Hortal y Compañía bookstore, active in Cádiz in the first half of the eighteenth century. 15 x 10.5 cm, 215 grams. [6], 312 p.: grabs. Original text in Castilian. A work very difficult to find, even more so in such good condition and with all the engravings. Most editions of the Lunary preserved in public libraries are missing leaves or in poor condition, as it was a highly-read work in its time. Astrology. Castilian almanacs.

Cortés, Gerónimo, El non plus ultra de el lunario, y pronostico perpetuo, general y particular para cada reyno, y provincia / composed by Don Geronimo Cortes ... ; expurgated according to the Expurgatory of the year 1707 by the Holy Inquisition; and now newly reformed and added by Don Pedro Enguera. Barcelona: In the Office of Juan Francisco Piferrer, king’s printer, Plaza del Angel [1793].


Ref. librería: C95390550875