Prenosticatio and other texts
Manuscript Item Type Metadata
Date
Circa 1488-1500
Description
*NEW Sept. 2019:* Digital Edition of UPenn LJS 445
This anthology exemplifies the fluid boundaries between manuscript and print traditions in the late fifteenth century. It contains material from three printed books: Johannes Lichtenberger’s Prognosticatio (Heidelberg, 1488; a book of astrological predictions about the Church and the Holy Roman Empire) and two editions of Regiomontanus’s calendar (Nuremberg, 1474; Venice, 1478).
These pages are part of a treatise on the constellations based on descriptions by Michael Scotus (1174-c. 1232), court astrologer to Frederick II. A prominent mathematician, philosopher, and translator, Scotus developed a much-copied list of constellations in his Liber introductorius, including two (Tarabellum and Vexillum, or the Drill and Standard) that he invented. The miniatures on display show Piscis Austrinus, Ara/Puteus (the Altar), Centaurus, and Corvus perched on Hydra; Corvus has been damaged by a reader cutting out Canis Minor on the verso.
This anthology exemplifies the fluid boundaries between manuscript and print traditions in the late fifteenth century. It contains material from three printed books: Johannes Lichtenberger’s Prognosticatio (Heidelberg, 1488; a book of astrological predictions about the Church and the Holy Roman Empire) and two editions of Regiomontanus’s calendar (Nuremberg, 1474; Venice, 1478).
These pages are part of a treatise on the constellations based on descriptions by Michael Scotus (1174-c. 1232), court astrologer to Frederick II. A prominent mathematician, philosopher, and translator, Scotus developed a much-copied list of constellations in his Liber introductorius, including two (Tarabellum and Vexillum, or the Drill and Standard) that he invented. The miniatures on display show Piscis Austrinus, Ara/Puteus (the Altar), Centaurus, and Corvus perched on Hydra; Corvus has been damaged by a reader cutting out Canis Minor on the verso.
Call Number
UPenn LJS 445
Pages Displayed
181v-182r
Video Orientation
Full Digitization
Author(s)
Johannes Lichtenberger (1440-1504); Regiomontanus (Johannes Müller von Königsberg, 1436-1476)
Place of Origin
Nuremberg (?), Germany
Language(s)
Middle High German
Materials
Paper
Number of Leaves
227
Dimensions
230 x 160 mm
Binding
15th-century quarter pigskin over wooden boards, blind-stamped, clasp. 17th-century (?) spine label.
Provenance (Ownership History)
Holtzschuher family of Nuremberg; Johann Nepomuk Graf Wilczek (1835-1922); Lawrence J. Schoenberg.
Further Reading
Crofton Black, ed., Transformation of Knowledge: Early Manuscripts from the Collection of Lawrence J. Schoenberg (London: Paul Holberton, 2006), 74-5.
Collection
Citation
“Prenosticatio and other texts,” Scanning the Skies: A Virtual Exhibit of Astronomy Manuscripts at the University of Pennsylvania, accessed July 1, 2025, https://aylinmalcolm.com/astro/items/show/1.