Ruth Leon recommends…. Astronomicum Caesorium Book – Met

Astronomicum Caesorium Book – Met 
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This most sumptuous of all Renaissance instructive manuals explained the use of the astrolabe and other instruments used for computing planetary positions. This riveting short video comes from the Met Museum in New York and tells not only what the book is but how to use it, employing King Henry V111’s birthday as an example.

With its hand-coloured illustrations, this splendid book is a feast for the eyes just to leaf through. But it was designed and marketed to meet a specific function: detailed instructions explained to privileged owners—amongst them Tudor King Henry VIII—on how to turn the paper dials according to dates and star signs, to create their own astrological charts and forecasts.

Sixteenth-century royalty and scholars alike combined the desire for knowledge with the long-held belief that it could be gathered from the movement of the stars.  From predicting one’s health to the weather and ideal moments of susceptibility—or conversely, obtuseness—the heavens provided meaning and guidance in an unstable world.

The Astronomicum Caesareum was written by Petrus Apianus (1495–1552), and illustrated by Michael Ostendorfer (ca. 1490–1549), Ingolstadt, 1540. 

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