Thābit ibn Qurra "On Talismans" and Ps.-Ptolemy "On images 1-9" together with the "Liber prestigiorum Thebidis" of Adelard of Bath

"This book contains a reconstruction of Thābit ibn Qurra's On Talismans, based on a recently-discovered Judaeo-Arabic text in the Cairo Genizah and the Latin versions. On Talismans, probably written in Baghdad in the late ninth century, was the most authoritative medieval text on the procedure for making talismans that depended for their efficacy on the natural influences of the stars. The Genizah manuscripts also include the first nine talismans of the On the Images on the Decans of the Signs attributed to Ptolemy, a work which forms a natural complement to Thābit's text and is therefore included in this edition. Editions of the major excerpts of, and quotations from, these two texts in Hebrew, Arabic and Greek, have been added, and the Latin translation of another (lost) Arabic version of Thabit's text - the Liber prestigiorum Thebidis - made by Adelard of Bath, completes the volume. Adelard's version adds elements of ceremonial magic (including prayers to spiritual forces) to the effects of the stars. The texts edited here are essential sources for our knowledge of the theory and practice of astrological talismans in the Middle Ages and early modern period"--

Year

2021

Language

English

Series

Micrologus library -- 106

Publisher

Sismel-Edizioni del Galluzzo

Editions

1

Pages

298

ISBN

9788892900707

Data source: Wikidata