Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Sibly, Ebenezer

611544Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900, Volume 52 — Sibly, Ebenezer1897Edward Irving Carlyle

SIBLY, EBENEZER (d. 1800), astrologer, was the son of a mechanic and brother of Manoah Sibly [q. v.] He early devoted himself to medicine and more especially to astrology. He studied surgery in London, and on 20 April 1792 graduated M.D. from King's College, Aberdeen. In 1790 he was residing in Ipswich, and distinguished himself at the general election by his exertions on behalf of Sir John Hadley D'Oyly, the whig member. Sibly died in London about the beginning of 1800.

He was the author of: 1. ‘Uranoscopia, or the Pure Language of the Stars,’ London, 8vo. 2. ‘A New and Complete Illustration of the Celestial Science of Astrology,’ London, 1787, 4to; 12th ed. 1817. This work contains a collection of nativities with short memoirs of, among others, several of his predecessors in the science of astrology. 3. ‘Key to Physic and the Occult Science of Astrology,’ London, 4to. n. d. 4. ‘The Medical Mirror, or a Treatise on the Impregnation of the Human Female,’ London, 1796, 8vo. He also edited Culpepper's ‘English Physician and Complete Herbal,’ London, 1805, 4to. A manuscript of his, in the possession of Mr. Fraser Rae, contains the horoscopes of Pitt, Fox, and Sheridan (Athenæum, 4 July 1896).

[Lowndes's Bibliographer's Manual, ed. Bohn; King's College Officers and Graduates, ed. Anderson, p. 138; Brit. Mus. Addit. MS. 19166 f. 396.]

E. I. C.