Astronomica by Manilius, Marcus; Goold, G.P. [editor and translator] - 1992

Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press, 1992. Hard Cover. Near Fine/Very Good. 18mo. Loeb Classical Library No. 469. Red cloth with gilt lettering to spine and LCL monogram to front board. cxxiii, 386 p.p. B&W illustrations. Dust jacket has some light wear to extremities, some chafing to joints and edges, short tear to front joint at head. Marcus Manilius, who lived in the reigns of Augustus and Tiberius, is the author of the earliest treatise on astrology we possess. His Astronomica, a Latin didactic poem in five books, begins with an account of celestial phenomena, and then proceeds to treat the signs of the zodiac and the twelve temples; there follow instructions for calculating the horoscoping degree, the details of the chronocrators, decans, injurious degrees, zodiacal geography, paranatellonata, and other technical matters. In spite of its undoubted elegance, the Astronomica is a difficult work, and this edition provides in addition to the first English prose translation a full guide to the poem, with copious explanatory notes and illustrative figures.