The flodys owt traylyng most aromatys
Hayle prious ♥ wounded so large and wyde
Hayle trusty treuloue our joy to provide
Hayle porte of glorie wt paynes alle embrued
On alle I sprynglyde lyke purpul dew enhuede.”
An Astronomical Manuscript in the Chetham Library, Manchester, the eclipses in which are calculated from A.D. 1330 to A.D. 1462, contains emblematical devices for the months of the year, and the signs of the zodiac; these are painted medallions at the beginning of each month; and to each of the months is attached a metrical line explanatory of the device.
| Januarius. | Ouer yis feer I warme myn handes. |
| Februarius. | Wyth yis spade I delve my londes. |
| Martius. | Here knitte I my vynes in springe. |
| Aprilis. | So merie I here yese foules singe. |
| Mayus. | I am as Joly as brid on bouz. |
| Junius. | Here wede I my corn, clene I houz. |
| Julius. | Wyth yis sythe my medis I mowe. |
| Augustus. | Here repe I my corn so lowe. |
| September. | Wyth ys flayll I yresche my bred. |
| October. | Here sowe I my Whete so reed. |
| November. | Wyth ys knyf I steke my swyn. |
| December. | Welcome cristemasse Wyth ale and Wyn. |
This manuscript contains, as J. O. Halliwell says of it, “an astrological volvelle—an instrument mentioned by Chaucer: it is the only specimen, I believe, now remaining in which the steel stylus or index has been preserved in its original state.”
Doubtless it is a copy of the Kalendrier des Bergers, which with the Compost des Bergers, has in various forms been circulated in France from the fourteenth century almost, if not quite, to the present day. An edition in 4to, of 144 pages, printed at Troyes, in 1705, bears the title, Le Grand Calendrier et Compost des Bergers; composé par le Berger de la grand Montagne.
Kindred works issued from the presses of Venice, of Nuremberg, and of Augsburg, between 1475 and 1478, in Latin, Italian, and German, and are ascribed to John Muller, more known under the name of Regiomontanus, a celebrated astronomer, born in 1436, at Koningshaven, in Franconia, and who died at Rome in 1476. One of these editions, in folio, was printed at Augsburg in 1476 by Erhard Ratdolt, being the first work he sent forth after his establishment in that city. (See Biog. Univ., vol. xxx. p. 381, and vol. xxxvii. p. 25.) But the most thoroughly emblematical work from Ratdolt’s press was an “Astrolabium planũ in tabulis,” “wrought out anew by John Angeli, master of liberal arts, MCCCCLXXXVIII.” There are 414 woodcuts, and all of them emblematical. The library at Keir contains a perfect copy, 4to, in most admirable condition. Brunet, i. c. 290, names a Venice edition in 1494, and refers to other astronomical works by the same author.