Online bibliographies on history of astrology
– written by Philip Graves, 6 December 2008
– Links updated: 26 November 2014
– Links archived, 21 September 2017
These are the best I have found, suitable both for serious researchers and for the merely curious who want to know more about the subject from an academic historical point of view:
First and foremost is that of David Juste, a relatively young scholar currently employed at the University of Sydney, but this bibliography is housed at the website of the Warburg Institute, part of the School of Advanced Study (SAS) at the University of London. Juste’s bibliography is almost mind-bogglingly comprehensive, including both complete books and scholarly articles in a number of different languages, ancient and modern, and is divided into sections according to topic and historical period, thus:
General histories (not specific to particular periods):
http://warburg.sas.ac.uk/library/digital-collections/bibliotheca-astrologica/histoires-generales/
Particular historical topics:
http://warburg.sas.ac.uk/library/digital-collections/bibliotheca-astrologica/questions-particulieres-inclassables/
Ancient Mesopotamia:
http://warburg.sas.ac.uk/library/digital-collections/bibliotheca-astrologica/mesopotamie/
Ancient Greece and Rome:
http://warburg.sas.ac.uk/library/digital-collections/bibliotheca-astrologica/grece-et-rome/
Medieval India:
http://warburg.sas.ac.uk/library/digital-collections/bibliotheca-astrologica/inde/
Pre-Islamic near-east:
http://warburg.sas.ac.uk/library/digital-collections/bibliotheca-astrologica/proche-orient-pre-islamique/
Medieval Arab world:
http://warburg.sas.ac.uk/library/digital-collections/bibliotheca-astrologica/monde-arabe/
Byzantium:
http://warburg.sas.ac.uk/library/digital-collections/bibliotheca-astrologica/byzance/
Medieval west:
http://warburg.sas.ac.uk/library/digital-collections/bibliotheca-astrologica/occident/
Renaissance and 16th century:
http://warburg.sas.ac.uk/library/digital-collections/bibliotheca-astrologica/renaissance-et-xvie-siecle/
17th and 18th centuries:
http://warburg.sas.ac.uk/library/digital-collections/bibliotheca-astrologica/xviie-et-xviiie-siecles/
Critical editions and translations of original source texts:
http://warburg.sas.ac.uk/mnemosyne/Orientation/astrobibl/Editions%20de%20sources.htm*
My favourite section is the last*, since more than any historical discussion, the original texts are of greatest fascination. Many are in Latin or ancient Greek, and translations are not always included but may have been published separately.
Needless to say, the entire bibliography is absolutely vast, and only a fully funded library of many decades’ standing could possibly have afforded such a collection. Many titles are extremely rare on the second-hand market, with no copies to be found at all, because of the specialist academic interest inherent to their original market as new books. Nonetheless, I have been steadily pulling together a personal collection of many of the most important major works for my own private study and research, although ultimately funds are the limiting factor.
There is a second bibliography of some relevance to astrology here, though it focuses specifically on the origins of the names of the constellations and stars and is therefore equally relevant to ancient astronomy. It has the advantage of being a critical bibliography, with major scorn being poured on the later-revealed inaccuracies of some early (19th and early 20th century) historical accounts of these topics. The editor is one Gary D. Thompson, an historian of astronomy, and many potentially interesting works not found in Juste’s bibliography are featured here:
http://members.westnet.com.au/gary-david-thompson/index1.html (link updated, April 2016)
See especially sections 3 and 4.
* – NB: As of November 26 2014, this page appeared to have been removed from the Warburg website, or at least could not be found in the relevant index. Update, September 21st 2017: The link has now been reset to point to the last archive of the page saved in 2010.
Update, September 21st 2017: the entire David Juste bibliography has been pulled down from the Warburg Institute website. The links have therefore been reset to point to archives of the pages for the period from April to May 2016, the last months for which they were found.
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