Page:The place of magic in the intellectual history of Europe.djvu/25

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BELIEF IN MAGIC

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by the Arabs in Spain the common property of Latin Christendom, the introducer to Western Europe of a Latin version of Averroes and of an enlarged Aristotle.^[1] Scot composed a primer of astrology for young scholars. His writings on alchemy show that he experimented in it not a little. His Physionomia accepts the doctrine of signatures, tells us that these signs on the outward body of the soul's inner state are often discovered through dreams, and contains a chapter giving an extended description of the rules of augury—an art on which the author, though a Christian, apparently bestowed his sanction. Prophetic verses foretelling the fate of several Italian cities have come down to us under his name. A poem of Henri d'Avranches, written in 1235-6, recalls to mind the fact that certain prophecies concerning the emperor had been made by the then deceased Michael Scot, whom the poet proceeds to call a scrutinizer of the stars, an augur, a soothsayer, a veridicus vates, and a second Apollo.^[2] A most interesting recipe for invoking demons to instruct one in liberal arts is attributed to Michael Scot in a manuscript collection of Occulta in the Laurentian library.^[3]

↑ My information concerning Michael Scot is mainly derived from his biography (Edinburgh, 1897) by Rev. J. Wood Brown, who has studied the manuscript copies of Scot's works in various European libraries and has succeeded in dispelling much of the uncertainty which previously existed concerning the events of Scot's career and even the dates of his life. Of Scot's works the Physionomia exists in printed form; indeed, eighteen editions of it are said to have been issued between the years 1477 and 1660.
↑ The poem is printed in Forschungen zur Deutschen Geschichte, vol. xviii, (1878) p. 486.
↑ The part of the manuscript containing the experiment was written between 1450 and 1500, Brown thinks, but purports to be a copy "from a very ancient work." If spurious, its fabricator at least shows considerable familiarity with Scot's life. See Brown, pp. 18-19. The recipe is given in full in the appendix of Brown's book.

[1] My information concerning Michael Scot is mainly derived from his biography (Edinburgh, 1897) by Rev. J. Wood Brown, who has studied the manuscript copies of Scot's works in various European libraries and has succeeded in dispelling much of the uncertainty which previously existed concerning the events of Scot's career and even the dates of his life. Of Scot's works the Physionomia exists in printed form; indeed, eighteen editions of it are said to have been issued between the years 1477 and 1660.

[2] The poem is printed in Forschungen zur Deutschen Geschichte, vol. xviii, (1878) p. 486.

[3] The part of the manuscript containing the experiment was written between 1450 and 1500, Brown thinks, but purports to be a copy "from a very ancient work." If spurious, its fabricator at least shows considerable familiarity with Scot's life. See Brown, pp. 18-19. The recipe is given in full in the appendix of Brown's book.

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