Lot 619: MORGAN, Sylvanus (1620-1693). Armilogia sive ars chronomocritica, The Language of Arms by the Colours & Metals . London: T. Hewer for Nathaniel Brook and Henry Eversden, 1666.

MORGAN, Sylvanus (1620-1693). Armilogia sive ars chronomocritica, The Language of Arms by the Colours & Metals. London: T. Hewer for Nathaniel Brook and Henry Eversden, 1666. 4o (233 x 174 mm). Full-page woodcut coat-of-arms of the dedicatee Edward, Earl of Manchester, on the verso of the title, one full-page engraving of coats-of arms on D4, numerous woodcut and engraved coats-of-arms in text. Contemporary English gold-tooled red morocco, edges gilt (some wear at ends of spine). Provenance: William St. John of Jesus College, Cambridge, 1712 (ownership inscription on front flyleaf); John Lord St. John (armorial bookplates); Dr. Charles Chauncey (armorial bookplate); James Walsh (armorial bookplate); Pierre de Chaignon (armorial bookplate); Ashburnham Library (shelfmark, sold Sotheby's 10 December 1887, lot 2663); acquired in 1966. FIRST EDITION, LARGE-PAPER COPY of Morgan's treatment of heraldry from a symbolic and mystical point of view, paralleling the alchemical interest and literature of the period. Morgan takes a pseudo-scientific approach to the subject of arms, referencing Boyle on page 24, Hooke on page 175 and Dugdale on page 239. This work is a supplement to Morgan's 1661 work, The Sphere of Gentry, which is much more common. Wing M-2738.

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