LES VRAYES CENTURIES ET PROPHETIES

NOSTRADAMUS, MICHEL DE. (BINDINGS - 17TH CENTURY, RELIURE PARLANTE)

Edité par Pierre Abegou, Jean Martel, Bordeaux, 1689

A propos de cet article

156 x 89 mm. (6 1/8 x 3 1/2"). 14 p.l., 95, [1], 80 pp. With a life of the author. APPROPRIATELY CELESTIAL CONTEMPORARY VELLUM SPRINKLED WITH GILT STARS on covers, flat spine densely tooled with repeating Gascon-style fleurette. Two section titles with an excellent woodcut depicting Nostradamus surrounded by the instruments of his trade, woodcut tailpieces of stars and moon. Front pastedown with pencilled name and annotations of Nostradamus scholar Daniel Ruzo de los Heros. USTC 6163254. Minor soiling and three small brown stains to covers, first quire and last two quires a bit browned (due to paper quality), one leaf with horizontal crease partially obscuring a line of text (though still legible), other isolated imperfections, but an excellent copy nevertheless, the text clean and fresh, and the curious binding shining with gilt and showing almost no wear. In a particularly charming star-studded binding, this is an excellent copy of Nostradamus' famous prophecies, which has been part of two major Nostradamus collections. The famous astrologer and physician Michel de Nostre-Dame, known as Nostradamus (1503-66) caused a sensation with the publication of his "Centuries" in 1555, a collection of predictions, written in nearly impenetrable quatrains, that has enjoyed a certain measure of popularity ever since. Published in Bordeaux in 1698, our edition contains the 942 surviving predictions, together with a brief biography of Nostradamus. Our copy is distinguished by a strikingly appropriate contemporary "reliure parlante"--a binding designed to mirror the contents of the book it covers; in this case, the field of shimmering gilt stars perfectly suits the subject of reading the heavens, and wonderfully complements the celestial woodcuts in the book. This copy has been part of two notable libraries of Nostradamus material. Former owner Daniel Ruzo de los Heros (1900-91) was a Peruvian scholar and eccentric, whose wide-ranging career included serving as district mayor of Miraflores in Lima, publishing numerous works on the possible man-made nature of the geologic formations in Marcahuasi, and (most relevant here) collecting a wealth of Nostradamus material. His 1970 work "El Testamento Autentico de Nostradamus" includes his theories on Nostradamus' prophecies, along with a bibliography of published editions of Nostradamus' works, including many from his own library; the present copy is not included, suggesting it was a later addition to Ruzo's collection. The extensive pencil notations on the front pastedown include Ruzo's cryptographical interpretations of Nostradamus' verses--including an anagram of "Nostradamus" as "Mandat Russo" (roughly translated from the Spanish as a "command made by Russo"), which Ruzo has further marked with his own name to ensure no one could miss the joke. The present copy subsequently passed into the library of Elmar R. Gruber (b. 1955), psychologist, researcher, and noted collector of mediumistic art. His esoteric research led to an interest in Nostradamus, and he built a significant collection of Nostradamus material, culminating in his 2003 publication "Nostradamus: Sein Leben, sein Werk und die wahre Bedeutung seiner Prophezeiungen.".

N° de réf. du vendeur ST20606

Détails bibliographiques

• Titre: LES VRAYES CENTURIES ET PROPHETIES
• Éditeur: Pierre Abegou, Jean Martel, Bordeaux
• Date de parution: 1689
• Catalogues du vendeur:
  • Magic, Occult, & Pseudo-science
  • Bindings - before 1700