[OCCULT SCIENCE] 'THE MAGICAL CALENDAR OF TYCHO BRAHE': RARE HERMETIC BROADSIDE. GROSSCHEDEL, JO...

[OCCULT SCIENCE] 'THE MAGICAL CALENDAR OF TYCHO BRAHE': RARE HERMETIC BROADSIDE. GROSSCHEDEL, JOHANN BAPTISTE; DE BRY, JOHANN THEODOR, printer; MERIAN, MATTHIAS, engraver. Calendarium Naturale Magicum Perpetuum. Frankfurt: Théodore de Bry, c.1618. Engraved illustrated broadside, printed on three joined sheets, 1315 x 618 mm. Repairs at old folds, some minor chipping, large margins. RARE ORIGINAL ENGRAVING OF GROSSCHEDEL'S MAGICAL CALENDAR. An important document in the 17th-century renaissance of magical symbolim, the 'magical calendar' was conceived by Johann Baptist Grosschedel in 1614 to accompany his unpublished magical treatise Dispositio Numerorum Magica Ab Unitate ad Duodenarium. While the contents of his treatise remain obscure, the accompanying 'magical calendar' has become one of the most famous and important images in Hermetic and Rosicrucian illustration. The original manuscript calendar was rediscovered in the British Library (Ms Harley 3420), with a note on the manuscript that it had been printed without his knowledge, 'anno 1618,' confirming printing detail, which had long been the subject of speculation. Grosschedel and DeBry are both mentioned in the text on the lower right of the engraving, along with a cryptic note: 'Thico Brahae inventor 1582,' creating much confusion and speculation as to Brahe's role in the creation of the calendar. Recent scholarship suggests that the attribution is simply crediting to him concepts employed within the calendar. The Calendarium naturale magicum perpetuum profundissimam rerum secretissimarum contemplationem totiusque Philosophiæ cognitionem complectens (or, 'Perpetual calendar of natural magic embracing the most profound contemplation of the most secret things and knowledge of all philosophy') is designed within a 12 x 12 matrix, symbolically invoking the calendrical year. As Agrippa defined 'natural magic' to be 'nothing else but the highest power of natural sciences,' so Grosschedel's calendar synthesizes the Hermetic universe of science with occult principles of numerology and correspondence. Drawing heavily on Agrippa, in particular his De occulta philosophia, as well as Paracelsus and Geber, the calendar employs magical devices, including angelic seals and sigils, magic squares, and planetary correspondences, in order to create a grimoire of white magic. The largest engraving of its kind ever printed, the Calendar stands at the pinnacle of Hermetic and Rosicrucian illustration. The work exemplifies the 'pansophic impulse' of the Renaissance to map the cosmos and organize all knowledge, and its panoply of tables and diagrams elucidate in detail the 'magical' hidden nature of the universe. A masterpiece of print-making, the Calendar was produced by Matthias Merian and Johann Theodore De Bry, who would continue to produce the most remarkable engraved allegorical and Hermetical works of the 17th-century, including Maier's masterful Atalanta Fugiens. While numerous manuscript copies and reprints were produced throughout the 18th and 19th century, and indeed continue to this day, copies of the original De Bry edition are of the greatest rarity, with only 12 copies known in institutional collections, and only this copy appearing at auction, according to Rare Book Hub. A fine example of a rare and important alchemical masterpiece, the original sheet with wide margins. REFERENCES: McLean, Adam. The Magical Calendar: A Synthesis of Magical Symbolism from the Seventeenth Century Renaissance of Medieval Occultism, Grand Rapids, MI, 1994. Gilly, Carlos. 'The Rediscovery of the Original of Grosschedel's Calendarium Natural Magicum Perpetuum,,' Magia, alchimia, scienza dal '400 al '700, Florence, 2002, pp 310-315. For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com For further information about this lot please visit the lot listing