Astrolearn astrology library progress report
– No. 4: 30th July 2015
As announced in the previous update, I have been playing host to a close relative visiting Sweden since last Friday. Consequently, no progress with cataloguing has been possible aside from writing up entries for two arrivals in the post.
The first of these, as previously expected, was A. Hauber’s “Planetenkinderbilder und Sternbilder zur Geschichte des Menschlichen Glaubens und Irrens” (1916). It’s really an excellent copy, complete with all the advertised 36 leaves of plates. Apparently it was part of a lengthy series of publications specifically addressing the history of German art. The source material to which the study refers appears to comprise almost exclusively manuscripts held in Germany. There are extensive references to astrology in the text, and all in all it looks a most interesting work. I am always glad to make acquisitions that come with the seal of approval of David Juste’s bibliography of the history of astrology published at the Warburg Institute website, and this is a case in point.
The second, also on the Juste list, is a single issue of a broadly-focused academic journal called “Pallas, Revue d’Études Antiques”. This issue is Tome XXX from 1983, and it is devoted to the topic of: “Astres, Astrologie, Religions Astrales, dans l’Antiquité’. It comprises seven studies and extends to about 139 pages. Authors include Wolfgang Hübner and Josèphe-Henriette Abry, two celebrated academic historians with an interest in the history of astrology. Here, Hübner writes generally on the theme of “L’Astrologie dans l’Antiquité”, while Abry takes up the theme of “L’Astrologie à Rome: les Astronomiques de Manilius”. But these are just two of the essays in this compendium, and most of the others look equally important, and I’m delighted to have found a copy of this publication at last.
The less good news this week is that my previously announced expectation of resuming work on cataloguing at the end of July has been dashed by different plans made for me by others, and only announced during the past week. Exactly what those plans consist of will not be disclosed here until after the event; but suffice it to say that there will be a hiatus in the weekly appearance of progress reports following this one, and lasting a number of weeks, before normal service will be able to resume. For the same reasons, the shop for scanned text DVDs at Astrolearn has been temporarily closed until such time as I am able to fulfil orders again, and a notice put up to that effect. And again for the same reasons, I am posting this update a day early.
Evidently, my expected schedule for completing and uploading the books section of the bibliography at Astrolearn is going to be pushed back by a number of weeks corresponding to the number during which I shall be unable to attend to this task. The exact length of the delay to be expected has yet to be established. I’m disappointed by this, but I hope in the circumstances of being denied a choice in the matter, I shall ultimately be forgiven by my readers and by all those looking forward to the fuller development of the bibliography of astrology here.
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