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an old book with a drawing of a man on a horse
Jeschke Jádi Auctions Berlin

3 - Gallaeus, Servatius
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Estimate €200 - €300
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Description
Gallaeus, Servatius Sibylline Oracles. Emended and restored from ancient manuscripts, and illustrated with commentaries by various authors... Also included are the Oracles of Mary, Zoroaster, Jupiter, Apollo, etc... With an engraved title page. Amstelodami Amsterdam, published by Henry and the widow of Theodore Boom, 1689 (not 1669). Large 8°. 13 leaves, 791 pp., 13 leaves, 127 pp. Contemporary half-leather binding with gilt lettering (gilt lettering partly scraped off). Jöcher II, 837. - Bibliotheca Magica, Rosenthal, 1490. - Graesse VI, 398. - Ebert II, 173: ‘New edition based on a manuscript in the possession of Professor Ed. Bernard of Oxford, and a careful compilation of the exegetical apparatus to date’. Latin and Greek text. This anonymous collection of ancient prophecies mainly comprises apocalypses, visions of doom, sermons on repentance, scenes of terror, miracles and omens, etc. The edition prepared by the Walloon theologian and philologist Servatius Gallaeus (Servaes Galle, 1627–1689) is the authoritative scholarly edition of the ancient Sibylline Oracles (Books 1–8) from the 17th century. Gallaeus drew upon older manuscripts as well as the preparatory work of Opsopoeus (Paris 1599) and supplemented the Greek-Latin text with commentaries from several generations of scholars. Of particular interest to collectors is the appendix: the *Oracula magica* attributed to Zoroaster, Jupiter and Apollo, as well as the *Oneirocriticon* by Astrampsychus, a late antique book on dream interpretation and divination – texts that make this edition particularly sought-after by collectors of occult and divinatory literature. The edition was published by the Amsterdam publishing house Boom, which in the same year (1688) also brought out Gallaeus’s richly illustrated “Dissertationes de Sibyllis, earumque Oraculis’ – a standalone companion volume illustrated with fourteen copperplate engravings (twelve depictions of the Sibyls and a folded portrait of the author) by Romeyn de Hooghe. Both titles are occasionally offered together on the market, but are bibliographically distinct works; the engraved title page of the text edition described here follows the stylistic tradition of the publishing house’s de Hooghe prints – first and last leaves with wormholes visible beneath the paper; otherwise a good, clean copy. The anonymous collection of ancient prophecies deals for the most part with apocalypses, visions of doom, penitential sermons, images of terror, and miracles and portents. The edition prepared by the Walloon theologian and philologist Servatius Gallaeus (Servaes Galle, 1627–1689) is the authoritative scholarly edition of the ancient Sibylline Oracles (Books 1–8) of the seventeenth century. Gallaeus drew on older manuscripts as well as on the preparatory work of Opsopoeus (Paris, 1599) and supplemented the Greek-Latin text with commentaries by several generations of scholars. Of particular interest to collectors is the appendix: the *Oracula magica* attributed to Zoroaster, Jupiter and Apollo, together with the *Oneirocriticon* of Astrampsychus, a late-antique manual on dream interpretation and divination – texts that make this edition particularly sought after by collectors of occult and divinatory literature. The edition was published by the Amsterdam printing house of Boom, which in the same period (1688) also produced Gallaeus’s richly illustrated *Dissertationes de Sibyllis, earumque Oraculis* —an independent companion volume featuring fourteen copper-engraved plates (twelve depictions of the Sibyls, along with a folding portrait of the author) by Romeyn de Hooghe. Although both titles are occasionally sold together on the second-hand market, they are bibliographically distinct works; the engraved title page of the text edition described here follows the stylistic tradition of de Hooghe’s engravings for the publishing house. The first and last leaves have wormholes that have been repaired; otherwise, this is a fine, clean copy.
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About the sale Valuable books, prints, historical photographs
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Auction time 10/24/2026 at 10:00 AM
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