BORDELON, P. P., [l'abbe Laurent]

De L'Astrologie Judiciaire Entretien Curieux

Paris: Louis Lucas, (1689). First Edition. Quarter calf over marled boards. 12mo. Pp. [22], 147, [2, followed by seven pages of index]. Marbled endpapers. Quarter calf over marbled boards, gilt-lettered spine with morocco label. Light wear to extremities, with spine head chipped; mild dampstaining to lower corners of a few leaves. Old bookplate ("Le Bibliophobe Bechtel") and library label ("Lucien Bodin Libraire, Sciences, Occultes, Societes Secretes" (Paris). All told, a solid, presentable copy. Item #5557

Title continues: "Ou l'on repond d'une maniere aisee et agreable a tout ce qu'on peut dire en sa faveur, et ou l'on fait voir en meme temps la superstitieuse vanite de la pratique, et la dangereuse faussete de ses predictions."

First edition. A doctor of theology, Bordelon (1653-1730) was a prolific writer; more than two dozen works have been attributed to him, written over a period of 25 years. "Il ne publie que des ouvrages singuliers, avec des titres bizarres." (Caillet). Here he presents a curious dialog in which his interlocutors politely debate what can be said in favor of astrology as against the practice's "superstitieuse vanite" and the "dangereuse faussete de ses predictions. One chapter is devoted to "modern sentiments of several famous gardening authors, in which they generally judge and condemn as popular errors, the ancient observations of the quadratures of the Moon, and the influences of the stars, in matters of agriculture and gardening."

According to Michaud, Bordelon once remarked in public, "que ses ouvrages etaient ses peches mortels, dont le public fait la penitence." CAILLET 1419; GARDNER 158; BIBLIOTHECA ESOTERICA 426.

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Price: $750.00