Because of its topical nature, Booktryst revisits a book we first took a look at in 2010, here with an updated slant.
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| Action in the sky = Politics on the ground. Frontispiece to Meteorologia Philosophico-Politica. |
"The more things change the more they stay the same"
(Alphonse Karr, Les Guêpes, 1849).
Every four years American Presidential politics plays out an ancient non-partisan script: Virtue is stained, throw the bum out.
In 1698, Francisco Reinzler published Meteorologia, Philisophico-Politica, a tract on the influence of weather and astrology on politics and guide to reading meteorological omens via astrology so that correct political decisions can be made.
If this seems outlandish, consider that politicians routinely stick a moistened finger in the air to discern the direction of the wind. Perhaps "you don't need a weatherman to tell which way the wind blows," but no politician says or does a thing until atmospheric conditions are considered. We all know what happened to President Bush when he misinterpreted the omen that hurricane Katrina augered.
One of the last of the great emblem books - those popular volumes from the 16th-17th century that instructed through symbolic illustrations - Meteorologia, Philisophico-Politica remains as fresh today as when originally published.
In 1698, Francisco Reinzler published Meteorologia, Philisophico-Politica, a tract on the influence of weather and astrology on politics and guide to reading meteorological omens via astrology so that correct political decisions can be made.
If this seems outlandish, consider that politicians routinely stick a moistened finger in the air to discern the direction of the wind. Perhaps "you don't need a weatherman to tell which way the wind blows," but no politician says or does a thing until atmospheric conditions are considered. We all know what happened to President Bush when he misinterpreted the omen that hurricane Katrina augered.
One of the last of the great emblem books - those popular volumes from the 16th-17th century that instructed through symbolic illustrations - Meteorologia, Philisophico-Politica remains as fresh today as when originally published.
In the tableau above, for instance, the bright, shining city on a hill is under assault by a meteor shower, i.e. the opposition party. It's time to drive the snakes out.
Above, we learn that, not only is it lonely at the top, it's dangerous when the sky thunders and lightning strikes the tower of power. The President may wish to hunker-down and spend the weekend at Camp David away from the tumult.
It's an all-out assault on Congress, the pillars of the Capitol struck by angry citizens who strike as bolts of lightning.
Meanwhile, inside the House of Representatives all is not well. The primaries have decimated incumbents, slaying careers on the floor of that venerable chamber. As Zeus hurling thunderbolts, the people are pissed-off and no one is safe.
But never fear, Virtue, suppressed for the last four years, will rise and conquer after the election. Then, Virtue will slowly and inevitably be corrupted until, four years later, she resembles a Gorgon and must be cleansed anew through another wash, rinse, and spin cycle. Afterward, of course, she'll be hung out to dry.
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REINZER, Francisco. Meteorologia Philosophico-Politica,
in duodecim Dissertationes per Quaestiones Meteorologicas &
conclusiones Politicas divisa, appositisque Symbolis illustrata...
Ausburg: J. Wolfus, 1698.
First edition, second printing, rarer than the first printing (of 1697), and subsequent 1709 and 1712 editions, with no copies at auction within the last thirty-five years. Folio (12 1/4 x 7 3/4 in; 311 x 197 mm). [6], 297, [5 index], [2 blank] pp. With engraved frontispiece by A.M.Wolffgang after W.J.Kadariza, and eighty-three in-text copperplate emblem engravings by J.Müller, J.Stridbeck, & J.S.Krauss after W.J. Kadariza.
Praz p. 463. De Backer-Sommervogel IV, 1640.3. Landwehr 494.
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Images courtesy of David Brass Rare Books, with our thanks.
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Perhaps "you don't need a weatherman to tell which way the wind blows," but no politician says or does a thing until atmospheric conditions are considered. We all know what happened to President Bush when he misinterpreted the omen that hurricane Katrina augered. Ed Schultz
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