“I have reckoned it part of my duty to give you, benevolent reader, some short information as to the publication of this little work, which, having hitherto existed only in Greek,† is now, in its Latin dress, accessible to the curiosity of all persons. This Paraphrase of Proclus on the Tetrabiblos of Ptolemy was translated a few years ago by Leo Allatius, a Greek by birth, eminently skilled in the learning of his own nation, as well as in Latin literature, and already celebrated for other writings in both languages. He lives, I have understood, in Rome, in the family of Cardinal Biscia, and holds some office in the Vatican Library. He undertook his present work, however, for his own private gratification, and that of certain friends; but when writings compiled with this view have once quitted their author’s hands, it will often happen that they have also, at the same time, escaped his control. So this offspring of Allatius, having emerged from Rome, arrived at Venice, from whence it was forwarded to me by a certain great personage of illustrious rank, in order that I might cause it to be printed. The names of Ptolemy and Proclus, so celebrated among mathematicians and philosophers, besides the subject of the work itself, seemed to me a sufficient warrant for committing it to the press. Whereupon I delayed not to avail myself of the advantages I possessed in having access to our excellent and most accurate typographers, the Elzevirs, and I earnestly solicited them to publish it: they, in their love for the commonwealth of letters, took upon themselves the charge of printing it in the form you see. You will learn from it, inquisitive Reader, how much power the stars have over the atmosphere and all sublunary things: for the stars, and those brighter bodies of heaven, must not be imagined to be idle. The whole doctrine of the stars is not, however, here treated of, but only that distinct part of it which the Greeks call judicial and prognostic, and which, while confined within certain limits is as entertaining as it is useful, and is partly considered to be agreeable to nature. But should it pretend to subject to the skies such things as do not depend thereupon, and should it invite us to foresee by the stars such things as are above the weakness of our apprehension, it will assuredly deserve to be reprehended as a vain and empty art, which has been demonstrated in many learned books by the great Picus of Mirandola. The Chaldæans, Genethliacs, and Planetarians, have been always held in disrepute, because they professed to know not only more than they actually did know, but also more than is allowed to man to know. Even Ptolemy, while he employs himself in his present work upon the Doctrine of Nativities, is scarcely free from the charge of superstition and vanity: perhaps, in a Pagan, this may be forgiven; but it is hardly to be tolerated, that persons professing Christianity should be led away by such an empty study, in which there is no solid utility, and the whole pleasure of which is puerile. Finally, I warn you that some persons doubt whether this was really produced by Ptolemy††: nevertheless, it has certainly appeared to Porphyry and Proclus (who were doubtless great philosophers, although hostile to the Christian faith) to be worthy of receiving elucidation by their Commentaries upon it.††† Peruse it, however, friendly reader, with caution, having first shaken off the weakness of credulity, for the sinew of wisdom is not to believe rashly. Farewell.”
In addition to the remarks made in the foregoing address regarding Leo Allatius, it may be observed that he was appointed Keeper of the Vatican Library by Pope Alexander VII, with whom he was in high favour. It is said of him, that he had a pen with which he had written Greek for forty years, and that he shed tears on losing it. Another story of him states, that the Pope had often urged him to take holy orders, that he might be advanced in the church, and one day asked him why he had not done so: “Because,” said Allatius, “I would be free to marry.”—“Why, then, do you not marry?”—“Because I would be free to take orders.”—Chalmer’s Biographical Dictionary.
† This assertion is applicable only to Proclus’s Paraphrase. There were several prior translations of the original Tetrabiblos in Latin and Arabic; and it appears by an extract from the Bibliotheca Græca of Fabricius (which will be found in a subsequent page), that a Latin version, done from the Arabic, was printed at Venice as early as the year 1493.
†† The reader is again referred to the extract from Fabricius (inserted in a subsequent page), containing that learned person’s account of this book among the other works of Ptolemy.
††† Their Commentaries were printed at Basle, in 1559.
[5] This translation from the Perugio press has been serviceable in presenting certain various readings; but it does not seem to possess any other peculiar merit. It professes to be a translation from the original text of Ptolemy; and so likewise does the translation printed at Basle, as above quoted.
[6] It appears by the printed works of this author, that he was named Didacus Placidus de Titis. He was a native of Bologna, by profession a monk, and was styled Mathematician to the Archduke Leopold William of Austria. He wrote in the earlier part of the 17th century, and his work, now cited, is considered to contain the most successful application of Ptolemy’s astrological rules to practice. The original is extremely scarce; but a new English edition, by Cooper, may be had of the Publishers of this work.
[7] Printed at Basle, 1541.
[8] Chalmer’s Biographical Dictionary.
[9] In France, about the beginning of the 16th century, Oronce Finé, the Royal Reader, attempted, under the patronage of Francis I, to produce an astronomical clock, in which everything moved according to the principles of Ptolemy. It was kept, about fifty years ago, in the monastery of St. Geneviéve, at Paris. In Lilly’s Catalogue of Astrological Authors, Orontius Finæus is mentioned as the writer of a work on the twelve houses of heaven, printed in Paris, 1553.