VMs: Re: Libro de Astromagia

["Rafal T. Prinke" <rafalp@xxxxxxxxxx>]

Rene Zandbergen wrote:

> Very interesting. Is it dedicated to the MS
> described below, or are there more general
> descirptions in it too?

It is general but based on three works - one other MS
from the turn of the 15th/16th c. which shows the _figurae_
by themselves (ie. without circles or spheres) and
an inclunabul printed in 1488 which shows the _figurae_
each in the centre of the square horocopic diagram
giving the boundaries of the houses but no planets
(and - as you said - with the degree for which the _figura_
is represented being on the ascendent). Above is a short
divinatory phrase. But nothing VMS-like.

> This clearly belongs with the Scorpius image
> I have at my web site: can you use that to check
> whether it is the same MS, or another copy?

Yes, it is the same (the book has all of them but
the remaining ones are in not-too-good b/w reproductions).

> These refer
> to stars (or small groups of stars, like eg.
> the flies) that rise at the same time as the
> degree of the zodiac. It is therefore strictly
> valid for one latitude and for one period of 70
> years. Typically, the latitude is that of
> either Alexandria or Rhodos, but in the ME
> other catalogues were also set up. This one
> predates that, but post-dates Al-Sufi's work,
> which would have been known in Spain at that
> time. All this would be discussed in the
> reference hinted at by Rafal.

Well, I would argue that this scheme was as unchanging
as the Zodiac itself - ie. it was equally "tropical".
The proof is the fact that all the sources quoted above,
which differ by over 200 years, as well as some even earlier
sources quoted in the book (Peter of Abano), assign the same
_figurae_ to the same degrees of the (tropical) Zodiac.
Thus they were moving away from the original constellations
to which they refered and cannot be used to date the work
where they appear - just the rough date when the system 
was "frozen".

Best regards,

Rafal