Manuscript, on paper, in several hands, containing a collection of texts related to geomancy, divination, alchemy, and astrology. The principal work is a Latin translation of the Geomancia of Alkardianus, usually attributed to Bernard Silvester. This text is heavily annotated and surrounded by other notes and shorter works
Description:
In Latin. and Binding: contemporary limp parchment wallet-style wrapper binding, cockled and damaged. Effaced lettering on upper cover.
Subject (Geographic):
Connecticut and New Haven.
Subject (Name):
Alkardianus. and Bernard Silvestris, active 1136.
Subject (Topic):
Alchemy, Astrology, Divination, Geomancy, and Manuscripts, Medieval
Manuscript on paper (unidentified watermarks) of Georg Rollenhagen (1542-1606), Isagoge in astrologiam. This manuscript is apparently the autograph of the Astrologia iudiciaria sive genethliacum reported to have been composed by this German evangelical minister, rector of the Gymnasium at Magdeburg and poet
Description:
In Latin and German., Script: Apparently copied by one hand writing a small Humanistica Cursiva Currens in many different forms, often difficult to decipher. Headings in the same script or in fancy capitals. The passages in German are in Gothica Cursiva Currens., Astrological diagrams, tables and calculations, all like the text of a rapid execution., and Binding: Original half binding of blind-tooled white pigskin decorated with rolls, the covers in an unorthodox way covered with green-blue blind-tooled parchment (?). On the front cover the gold-tooled initials "IMD" and the date "1599". Spine with three raised bands, with the number "10" painted in red in the second compartment. At the top illegible title label.
Subject (Geographic):
Connecticut and New Haven.
Subject (Name):
Rollenhagen, Georg, 1542-1609.
Subject (Topic):
Astrology, German literature, Illumination of books and manuscripts, Medieval, and Manuscripts, Medieval
Manuscript on parchment of the Iudicium astrologicum, or horoscope, for the year 1475. Prepared for the humanist condottiere Federigo da Montefeltro (1422-1482, lord of Urbino from 1444; named duke by Pope Sixtus IV in 1474), perhaps by his court astrologer Iacobus of Speyer
Description:
In Latin., Script: Written by a very elegant and uniform humanistic hand., The dedication on f. 1r written in very pale red. Capitals with guide-letters in plain burnished gold or blue at paragraph divisions set into the left margin, the letters of the final word or words in a paragraph often in capitals and spread to fill out the line. On f. 1r is an illuminated border in the upper, inner, and lower margins consisting of a triple band of narrow gold stripes, quadruple and broader at the bottom margin, containing a very complex "white-vine" pattern, the spaces of which are filled up with red, blue, and green pigment peppered with patterns of three small dots in white lead; set within the lower band of the border is a round wreath incorporating a shield with the arms of Federigo da Montefeltro lord of Urbino; the first capital of the text, f. 1r, 8, is in burnished gold within a square painted frame of blue, red, and green ornamented with white tracery. No illustration., and Binding: Rebound ca. 1800 in England (?) in blind-paneled brown diced Russia with doublures of the same, flat back without title label, the original gilt edges now somewhat irregular due to the rebinding, two parchment guards and one of paper at beginning, one parchment guard at end. Preserved in a recent black cloth folding box with gilt-stamped black niger label.
Subject (Geographic):
Connecticut and New Haven.
Subject (Name):
Federico, da Montefeltro, Duke of Urbino, 1422-1482. and Iacobus, of Speyer.
Subject (Topic):
Astrology, Horoscopes, Illumination of books and manuscripts, Medieval, and Manuscripts, Medieval
Manuscript on parchment (goatskin) of 1) Iohannes de Sacrobosco, Algorismus. 2) Thebit ben Chorat, De recta imaginatione sphaerae. 3) Iohannes de Sacrobosco, De sphaera. 4) Iohannes Campanus of Novara (ascr.), Tractatus quadrantis. 5) Iohannes de Sacrobosco, Compotus. 6) Gerardus Sablonetanus (ascr.), Theorica planetarum (also attributed to other authors). 7) Alfraganus, Liber differentiarum, tr. John of Seville
Description:
In Latin., Script: Copied by a single scribe writing Northern Gothica Textualis Libraria. Numerous and often extensive marginal notes by various 13th and 14th century hands, mostly in small rapid cursive handwriting, some in Italian Gothica Hybrida Libraria., Red paragraph marks and 2-3-line plain initials with guide-letters; on f. 1r a larger flourished littera duplex inbrown and red; the other artt. open with larger plain initials. Numerous pointing hands. Pen-and-ink drawings and diagrams throughout., and Binding: Early, heavy wooden boards recovered with new brown sheepskin. Spine with three raised bands and gold-tooled inscription: "TRACTATUS ASTRONOMICI. MS A.D. 1281".
Subject (Geographic):
Connecticut and New Haven.
Subject (Name):
Sacro Bosco, Joannes de, fl. 1230.
Subject (Topic):
Astrology, Astronomy, Medieval, Illumination of books and manuscripts, Medieval, Latin literature, Medieval and modern, Manuscripts, Medieval, and Mathematics, Medieval
Manuscript on paper. Includes notes on arithmetic and accounting for merchandise; a romance of Tristan; list of spices; astronomical and astrological information; charms and prayers; recipes; extracts in Venetian; and poems
Description:
In Italian and Latin., Watermarks: similar to Briquet Fruit 7372-76, Briquet Cheval 3564, and Briquet Fruit 7341., Script: Written by a single scribe in a neat notarial hand, through f. 67v. Notes added by various hands of 14th-15th centuries., Drawings of ships, towers and merchants in ink, with added yellow, brown, green, red and blue; many diagrams. Crude 2- and 1-line initials in red, with guide-letters for rubricator showing beneath; headings in red., Repair of f. 1 with later paper; some loss of text. Repairs at outer edges on this and other folios do not affect text., and Binding: 18th-19th centuries. Rigid vellum case with paste paper back endleaf and pastedowns. Central fold of each bifolium has been reinforced with a strip of parchment.
Subject (Geographic):
Connecticut, New Haven., and Venice (Italy)
Subject (Topic):
Accounting, Arithmetic, Astrology, Astronomy, Medieval, Formulas, recipes, etc, Illumination of books and manuscripts, Medieval, Italian literature, Manuscripts, Medieval, Merchants, Prayers, Tristan (Legendary character), and Economic conditions
BEIN 2013 1188: Armorial bookplate: Bryan Fausset. Inscriptions: Simon Hughes. Scant manuscript annotations on rear free endpaper. No. 1 of 12 titles bound together., With a title-page portrait., Signatures: A-E⁸ F⁴., and With a final advertisement leaf.
Publisher:
Printed by J. Macock for the Company of Stationers
Merlinus verax and Almanack for the year of our Lord, 1687
Description:
BEIN 2013 1188: Armorial bookplate: Bryan Fausset. Inscriptions: Simon Hughes. Scant manuscript annotations on rear free endpaper. No. 3 of 12 titles bound together., A lover of loyalty = John Gadbury., A different work from the "Merlinus verax" of Robert Neve., and Signatures: A-B⁸ ²B⁸ D⁸ E⁴.
Publisher:
Printed for the Company of Stationers
Subject (Geographic):
Great Britain
Subject (Topic):
Almanacs, English, Ephemerides, Astrology, History, and Chronology
Remarkable news from the stars and Ephemeris for the year, 1687
Description:
BEIN 2013 1188: Imperfect: hole in corner of leaf B4, with no loss of text. Armorial bookplate: Bryan Fausset. Inscriptions: Simon Hughes. Scant manuscript annotations on rear free endpaper. No. 9 of 12 titles bound together., Subsequently published with title: Remarkable news from the stars., Quires [A]-B in red and black., Printer's name from Wing CD., and Signatures: [A]⁸ B-C⁸.
Publisher:
printed by A.G. [Alice Grover] for the Company of Stationers
Starry messenger for the year of our redemption, 1687
Description:
BEIN 2013 1188: Armorial bookplate: Bryan Fausset. Inscriptions: Simon Hughes. Scant manuscript annotations on rear free endpaper. No. 6 of 12 titles bound together., Title page and calendar in red and black., Printer's name from Wing CD., and Signatures: [A]⁸ B-C⁸.
Publisher:
Printed by A.G. [Alice Grover] for the Company of Stationers
Olympia dōmata and Almanack for the year of our Lord God 1687
Description:
BEIN 2013 1188: Armorial bookplate: Bryan Fausset. Inscriptions: Simon Hughes. Scant manuscript annotations on rear free endpaper. No. 7 of 12 titles bound together., Title page and calendar in red and black., First two words of title in Greek characters., and Signatures: A-C⁸.
BEIN 2013 1188: Armorial bookplate: Bryan Fausset. Inscriptions: Simon Hughes. Scant manuscript annotations on rear free endpaper. No. 11 of 12 titles bound together., Part 2 has special t.p.: Poor Robin, 1687 : a prognostication ..., Advertisements: p. [7] and [48]., and Poor Robin = William Winstanley. Cf. ESTC.
Manuscript, on vellum, in a single hand, of this unique English prose version of the twelfth-century Latin treatise Secretum secretorum, itself a translation of the Kitab sirr al-asrar. In addition to this text, the volume also includes a short astrological text in Middle English, headed "secreta." The opening leaf is not present; the introduction by the translator praises Sir Miles Stapleton as his patron
Alternative Title:
Secretum secretorum
Description:
In Middle English and Latin., Several verses and aphorisms in a sixteenth?-century cursive hand on blank leaves and in margins., Layout: single columns of 21-23 lines., Script: English bookhand., Decoration: numerous initials in gold or in blue with contrasting penwork., and Binding: fifteenth-century blind-stamped calf over wooden boards; remains of clasps.
Subject (Geographic):
Connecticut and New Haven.
Subject (Name):
Johannes, de Caritate.
Subject (Topic):
Astrology, Astronomy, Astronomy, Medieval, Education of princes, English prose literature, Manuscripts, Medieval, Medicine, and Medicine, Medieval
Engraved title page, title within architectural border., In ink on title page at bottom left: m., In ink on title page in upper right corner: m / L., Manuscript note pinned to last leaf., On verso of title page: DK 15.15., Slip giving aphorism CXV which was omitted in text, inserted between e4 adn f1., and Supplement to Leovitius, C. Brevis et perspicva ... Londini, 1558, and bound preceding it.
Publisher:
[Excudebat Henricus Suttonus impensis Nicolai England]
Manuscript on parchment of a Psalter, with astrological notes, a Calendar, and other litanies and prayers
Description:
In Latin., Written by two scribes in tiny gothic textura. Scribe 1: ff. 2v-91v; Scribe 2: ff. 91v (last folio of quire 8)-95v. Several later hands have added scribbles, prayers, and inscriptions on ff. 1r-2r, 10r, 95v, 96r, 97v, 98r, 99r., Small (6-line) and rather crude historiated initials. The initials for Ps. 52 (the Fool) and Ps. 109 (the Trinity) are missing. In each initial, the figure drawn in black and colored pink, green, and/or blue on a gold ground; the initials attached to cusped, tapering bar border, blue, red, and gold, with white highlights, with ivy terminal, black with red and green leaves. Gold and blue calligraphic initials (2-line), with blue and red penwork respectively; 1-line initials, alternating red and blue. KL monograms, gold on red and blue, with white highlights. Because the initial I was placed in the margin without an inset space in the text, the illuminator often missed it (e.g., for Ps. 70 on f. 42r; for Ps. 113 on f. 62r, and for Ps. 125 on f. 68v)., and Binding: 15th-16th centuries. Resewn on three two-layered tapes of tawed skin attached to wooden boards. The endband cores are of tawed skin with a tawed skin braid at the head, a new endband added at the tail. The spine is square and the cover adhered to it. Covered in tawed skin, originally pink, with corner tongues. Cover repaired at spine and two corners and two silver clasps added. In a flexible grey leather pouch.
Subject (Geographic):
Connecticut and New Haven.
Subject (Name):
Catholic Church
Subject (Topic):
Astrology, Illumination of books and manuscripts, Medieval, Manuscripts, Medieval, and Psalters
Manuscript, on paper, of Rūznāmah by an unidentified author. Includes calendars and conversion tables from the Islamic to the Gregorian calendar with marginal notes defining terms, referencing important historical events, and listing auspicious times
Alternative Title:
Ghurranāmah and غره نامه
Description:
In Ottoman Turkish., Title from explanatory notes in the margins., According to colophon, manuscript was copied by Meḥmed Emīn Ḥilmī (محمد امين حلمي)., A note in the colophone indicates that this calendar was prepared without allowing cautionary room regarding religious ritual (temkinsiz), suggesting that those who would rely on this calendar for fasting in Ramadan should start their fasts fifteen minutes prior to the time set in this calendar (“Bu ruznamede yazılan imsak temkinsizdir ve sıyam için murad eden kimse on beş dakika mukaddem imsak etmek gerektir”)., Romanization supplied by cataloger., Layout: Single columns with running marginal annotations., Script: Naskh., and Decoration: Illuminated rubricated headpieces and frames (throughout) in red and blue.
Subject (Geographic):
Connecticut and New Haven.
Subject (Topic):
Astrology, Divination, Islamic calendar, and Manuscripts, Turkish
Manuscript, on vellum, incomplete, in a single hand, of John Lydgate's and Benedict Burgh's Middle English verse translation of the twelfth-century Latin treatise Secretum Secretorum, itself a translation of the Kitab sirr al-asrar. In addition to this text, the volume also contains several prose pieces in Middle English and Latin, including one with illustrated diagrams and a Latin tract on the interpretation of dreams
Description:
In Middle English and Latin., Several medical recipes added on blank leaves and portions of leaves in a sixteenth-century? cursive hand., Signature of John Bowen? in a seventeenth-century hand. Signature of Thomas Bowen in a seventeenth-century hand., Layout: various single-column., Script: English bookhand., Decoration: 15 illuminated borders; other decorated initials, some gilt., and Binding: disbound, but with some original sewing intact; modern case.
Subject (Geographic):
Connecticut and New Haven.
Subject (Topic):
Astrology, Astronomy, Astronomy, Medieval, Education of princes, English prose literature, Manuscripts, Medieval, Medicine, and Medicine, Medieval
Būnī, Aḥmad ibn ʻAlī, -1225 بوني، أحمد بن علي، -1225
Published / Created:
1874.
Call Number:
Arabic MSS suppl. 759
Image Count:
528
Resource Type:
text
Abstract:
Shams al-maʻārif al-kubrá (Larger Sun of knowledge), by Abū al-ʻAbbās Aḥmad ibn ʻAlī al-Būnī (died 1225), a well-known Ṣufī scholar from the city of Būnah (Bône), now ʻAnnābah (Annaba, Algeria), who died in Cairo. This work is designated "al-kubrá" (the larger) to distinguish it from the author's two other treatises: "al-wusṭá"́ (the middle) and "al-ṣughrá" (the smaller). It is also listed in the text under the title "Shams al-maʻārif wa-laṭāʼif al-ʻawārif" (Sun of knowledge and intricacies of diviners), a treatise on magic, alchemy, astrology, divination, Islamic occultism, the name of God (including 'al-Asmāʼ al-Ḥusná', the 99 beautiful names of God), the magical use of the Arabic Alphabet, and talismans. The present work is a lithographed edition, printed from an original copy from India, in four parts, as follows: al-Juzʼ al-awwal (Part one: Pages 1-132), al-Juzʼ al-thānī (Part two: pages 1-116), al-Juzʼ al-thālith (Part three: pages 1-124), al-Juzʼ al-rābiʻ (Part four: Pages 1-148), followed by an index of contents for the four parts (Pages 1-7). The work was printed on 20 Shawwāl, 1291 of the Hijrah (30 November, 1874). Place and name of the printer not mentioned
Alternative Title:
Shams al-maʻārif wa-laṭāʼif al-ʻawārif and شمس المعارف ولطائف العوارف
Description:
In Arabic., Title from cover., Romanization supplied by cataloger., Incipit: "Bismillāh al-Raḥmān al-Raḥīm. Shahādat azal, fa-min nūr hādhihi al-shahādah ightarafa al-muṣannifūn ʻilman. Fa-ifham dhālik. Wa-al-tartīb al-abadī fī al-shahādatayn al-muttaṣilatayn bi-al-malāʼikah al-kirām. Wa-awwal al-ʻilm fa-hādhihi shahādat al-abad. Fa-man fahima sirr hātayn al-shahādatayn shāhad al-malakūtayn wa-mā awdaʻāhu bi-sirr al-ittiṣāl bi-al-kashfīyāt ...", Secundo folio: Ammā baʻd, fa-lil-ḥaqq aʻlām., 16.5 x 23.5 cm; written surface: 12 x 20 cm; 31 lines per page., Binding: In green cardboard cover and dark brown paper on the spine., In naskh script, in black ink, on white paper; many illustrations and magic squares; text within double frames; catchwords. At the head of the opening page of each of the four parts is a decorative design., On cover: "Shams al-maʻārif al-kubrá", printed in silver., On page 1 of al-Juzʼ al-awwal: "Shams al-maʻārif al-kubrá wa-laṭāʼif al-ʻawārif, fī arbaʻat ajzāʼ, lil-Quṭb al-Imām Aḥmad ibn ʻAlī al-Būnī, wa-bi-nihāyat al-arbaʻat kutub, [al-kutub] al-ātiyah: 1. Kitāb Mīzān al-ʻadl fī maqāṣid aḥkām al-raml. 2. Kitāb Fawātiḥ al-raghāʼib fī khuṣūṣīyāt awqāt al-kawākib. 3. Kitāb Zahr al-murūj fī dalāʼil al-burūj. 4. Kitāb Laṭāʼif al-ishārah fī khaṣāʼiṣ al-kawākib al-sayyārah." "Maṭbūʻ ʻalá al-nuskhah al-Hindīyah al-aṣlīyah." These four books are not included in this codex and seem to serve as an advertisement for works to follow., al-Juzʼ al-thānī (Part two), starts with: "al-Faṣl al-khāmis ʻashar. Fī al-shurūṭ al-lāzimah li-baʻḍ dūna baʻḍ fī al-bidāyāt wa-al-nihāyāt.", al-Juzʼ al-thālith (Part three), starts, after al-Basmalah, with: "al-Faṣl al-ḥādī wa-al-ʻishrūn. Fī Asmāʼ Allāh al-Ḥusná, wa-anmāṭihā, wa-mā li-kull namaṭ min al-daʻawāt.", al-Juzʼ al-rābiʻ (Part four), starts, after al-Basmalah, with: "al-Faṣl al-thāmin wa-al-thalāthūn. Fī istikhdāmāt al-ḥurūf wa-khalawātihā.", Colophon: "Tamma Kitāb Shams al-maʻārif al-kubrá lil-Imām al-Būnī fī ʻishrīn min Shawwāl, sanat 1291 Hijrīyah. Wa-lammā kādat shams ṭabʻihā tabzughu lil-ṭulūʻ arrakhahā baʻḍ al-madmīyīn [al-mādiḥīn] bi-qawlihi, shiʻr [in Ḥisāb al-jummal (Alphabetical reckoninig)]: ... Wa-fīhā ará al-tārīkh jāda bi-qawlihi // yufīdu al-amānī ṭabʻu Shams al-maʻārif. Sanat 1291.", and Translation of the colophon: "The book 'Shams al-maʻārif al-kubrá' of al-Imām al-Būnī was completed on 20 Shawwal, 1291 of the Hijrah [30 November, 1874]. When the sun of its printing started to rise, someone praised it and mentioned the date of printing, in verse [using Ḥisāb al-jummal "Alphabetical reckoning"], saying: ... In it I see the date, saying generously: The printing of Shams al-maʻarif satisfies the wishes. The year 1291."
Subject (Name):
Būnī, Aḥmad ibn ʻAlī, -1225.
Subject (Topic):
Alchemy, Arabic alphabet, Astrology, Divination, God (Islam), Name, Islamic magic, Islamic occultism, Lithographed books, Magic, and Talismans
Būnī, Aḥmad ibn ʻAlī, -1225 بوني، أحمد بن علي، -1225
Call Number:
Hartford Seminary Arabic MSS 93
Image Count:
700
Abstract:
Shams al-maʻārif wa-laṭāʼif al-ʻawārif (also called "Shams al-maʻārif al-kubrá" to distinguish it from the author's two other smaller treatises: al-wusṭa "the middle one" and al-ṣughrá "the little one"), a treatise on magic, alchemy, astrology, devination, Islamic occultism, the name of God and the magical use of the Arabic alphabet by Abū al-ʻAbbās Aḥmad ibn ʻAlī al-Būnī (d. 1225), a famous sufi scholar from the city of Būnah (Bône) now ʻAnnābah (Annaba, Algeria), died in Cairo, Egypt. Name of copyist and place of copying are not mentioned; the date of copying is mentioned enigmatically in the 12th century H (18th century M).
Alternative Title:
Shams al-maʻārif al-kubrá and شمس المعارف الكبرى
Description:
In Arabic., Incipit: "Bismillāh al-Raḥmān al-Raḥīm wa-ṣallá Allāh ʻalá Sayyidinā wa-Mawlānā Muḥammad wa-ṣaḥbihi wa-sallam. al-Ḥamdu lillāh alladhī aḥāṭa bi-kull shayʼ ʻilman wa-ʻallam al-insān mā lam yaʻlam wa-ashhadu an lā ilāh illā Allāh waḥdah lā sharīka lah wa-ashhadu anna Muḥammadan rasūl Allāh ṣallá Allāh ʻalayhi wa-sallam, shahida Allāh an lā ilāh illā huwa shahādat azal, fa-min nūr hādhihi al-shahādah ightaraf al-muṣṭafūn ʻilman, fa-ifham dhālika. Wa-al-tartīb al-abadī fī al-shahādatayn al-muttaṣilatayn bi-al-malāʼikah al-kirām wa-ulī al-ʻilm fa-hādhihi shahādat al-abad, fa-man fahima sirra hātayn al-shahādatayn shāhada al-malakūtayn ...", 20 x 29 cm; written surface: 14 x 22 cm, ca. 30 lines per page., Bound., In fair naskh script, on yellowish paper; keywords and markings in red; some notes and corrections on the margins; magic squares and illustrations; text within double red frames; catchwords., Includes table of contents at the beginning of the manuscript: "al-Faṣl al-awwal fī al-ḥurūf al-muʻjamah wa-mā yatarattabu fīhā min al-asrār wa-al-iḍmārāt. al-Faṣl al-thānī fī al-kasr wa-al-basṭ wa-tartīb al-aʻmāl min al-awqāt wa-al-sāʻāt. al-Faṣl al-thālith fī aḥkām manāzil al-qamar al-thamāniyah wa-ʻishrīn al-falakīyah ...", and Colophon: "... Wa-Allāh asʼalu an yulhima li-fahm mā ramaznāh wa-kashf mā satarnāh akh ṣadīq wa-khill ḥaqq [i.e. akhan ṣadīqan wa-khillan ḥaqqan]. Wa-fī hādhā al-qadr kifāyah li-man waffaqahu Allāh taʻālá wa-lā ḥawla wa-lā qūwata illā billāh al-ʻAlī al-ʻAẓīm wa-ṣallá Allāh ʻalá Sayyidinā Muḥammad wa-ṣaḥbihi ajmaʻīn wa-jamīʻ al-anbiyāʼ wa-al-mursalīn wa-al-ḥamdu lillāh Rabb al-ʻĀlamīn. al-Tārīkh: Fī niṣf awwal min khums thālith min thulth awwal min niṣf thānī min suds thālith min niṣf awwal min khums thānī min ʻushr awwal min qarn thānī ʻashar min hijrat khayr al-bashar ṣallá Allāh ʻalayhi wa-sallama taslīman kathīran. Tamma wa-kamula."
Subject (Name):
Būnī, Aḥmad ibn ʻAlī, -1225.
Subject (Topic):
Alchemy, Arabic alphabet, Astrology, Divination, God (Islam), Name, Islamic magic, Islamic occultism, and Magic
