Far-reaching prophecies

Lichtenberger, Johannes. Practica Meyster Johannen Liechtenbergers, auff eyn news ersehen, und weß im vorigen truck, auß mangel deß alten exemplars versaumpt, ist ietz zum aller verstendtlichsten widerumb erstattet, werende biß man schreiben wirt, nach Christi geburt M. D. lxvij.

€ 16,500.00

Extremely rare edition of this finely illustrated prognostication book by Johannes Lichtenberger (1426-1503), court astrologer to Emperor Frederick III. Lichtenberger was inspired to write prophecies after noticing astronomical curiosities, including Jupiter with Saturn in Scorpio in November of 1484, and a solar eclipse the following year. His prognostications are vague, general, and low-risk, but still caused him to run afoul of the Inquisition. His work was overwhelmingly popular from its first edition in 1488, especially as the vividness of the book's numerous illustrations "impressed also audiences not capable of reading" (cf. Muther, 105).

The title-page shows the author, both hands reaching out in an expressive gesture. Lichtenberger had modelled his work on slightly earlier treatises by Eberhard Schleusinger and Paul von Middelburg (to an extent that the latter even accused him of plagiarism). In his preface, the author styles himself an interpreter of divine providence, invoking several philosophers and saints (including Aristotle, Ptolemy, and St. Birgitta of Sweden) as seen in the second, full-page woodcut, assembled beneath the gaze of the heavenly father. The prologue ends with a "prayer of the master of this little book" and a half-page woodcut. The next illustration depicts the God-ordained order of the world: God in His heavens, the Pope and the Emperor by the sides, and two farmers tilling the soil in the foreground.

While the book's tripartite structure follows that of the estates, there is little doubt that the author's focus is squarely on the Emperor and his territories: "A distinguishing feature of Lichtenberger's prognostication is that it is evidently intended for German consumption. Its political predictions are largely for the Holy Roman Empire" (Thorndike, 477). Subjects include the geopolitical competitor France, Bohemian heretics, and the Ottoman threat, garnished with suggestions for political reform in the Empire. In the 16th century, the "minor prophet" and church reformer predicted by Lichtenberger was widely identified with Luther (cf. ibid., 476), who himself issued a German edition in 1527, adding his own foreword. Reaching ahead as far as 1567, the numerous Latin and German editions of Lichtenberger's prognostications found ever new readers. Indeed, the book contained "a little of almost everything, a fact which may account for its popularity. Lichtenberger dips into past as well as future [...]. Present political and religious opinion is also freely expressed [...] He rails against the Jews for not accepting Christianity and seems to criticize the introduction of Roman law into Germany. [...] Even alchemy is introduced into the discussion" (ibid., 479).

The woodcuts of the present edition present themselves in excellent, stark prints. Attributed to Bartholomäus Kistler, they give evidence of a comparatively unsophisticated linear style that harks back to the 15th century. This very rare edition has eluded most bibliographers.