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Gaffarel, Jacques (1601-1681) Unheard-of Curiosities: Concerning the Talismanical Sculpture of the Persians; the Horoscope of the Patriarkes; and the Reading of the Stars.
London: Printed by G.D. for Humphrey Moseley, 1650.
First edition in English, translated by Edmund Chilmead from the French original, Curiositez Inouyes, octavo, illustrated with text woodcuts and two large folding woodcut plates bound after the text; bound in full contemporary English sheepskin-covered boards, rebacked in a modern style with new label and endleaves; 6 5/8 x 4 1/4 in.
In this work, Gafferel shows letters in Hebrew as representing celestial constellations in the two folding plates, postulating that the night sky could be read like a book. His work garnered the attention of other early modern thinkers, including Descartes, Gassendi, Cardinal Richelieu, and Norwich's polymath Sir Thomas Browne.
