Skyscript Astrology Forum

I have been wanting to read a good 'History of Astrology' book and was hoping to get suggestions from the group.... I would prefer one that included as in depth a coverage as possible...

thank you in advance for your thoughts!

Granny

I think this time the best available book on the history of astrology is "A History of Horoscopic Astrology" by James H. Holden. Of course, you can also find valuable comprehensive works on various ages but a more overall survey could hardly be found, to my mind. However, if you want to get a really detailed description for a certain age, there are other possibilities as well.

A book I like a lot is Jim Tester's 'A History of Western astrology', on astrology from the Greeks to the 17th century. If you want to get a taste of it here it is (partly) on Google books:
http://books.google.nl/books?id=L0HSvH9 ... en#PPP1,M1
The writer didn't really believe in astrology but he was a historian. However I believe he is genuine in his reporting on the subjects.

Not as book on Google books but via it http://books.google.nl/books?id=zcWiK75 ... tory&hl=en
there are references about the book : Benson Bobrick 'The Fated Sky'.
Although I prefer Tester on the early astrology, Bobrick mentions a lot about what happened during the 'gap' period after 1700 when astrology fell into the background. Also interesting information (even for non modern astrologers) about the upcoming of psychological astrology in the early 20th century.

I don't have this one myself, but I bumped into it on, again, Google books.
http://books.google.nl/books?id=9p1igGF ... en#PPP1,M1
James Herschel Holden 'A History of Horoscopic Astrology'
Lot of information per astrologer and mentioning when which technique was first applied.

Actually I'm really looking for one that covers Asyrian, Mesopotamian, Persian, Egyptians etc, everything UP TO and including the Greeks. If its out there, i can understand that it might be stretching things a bit...

Granny

I would second the recommendations of Holden's very useful overview. Tester is not exactly bad, but biassed, and somewhat dated. I found Bobrick disappointing -- very derivative, with some dubious sources (including now living astrologers not known for their historical scholarship), and Bobrick himself clearly doesn't understand the technical aspects of his subject. On the other hand, Whitfield's Astrology: a history, though clearly more of a coffee-table book, is surprisingly scholarly, yet accessible.

I like Holden's book, too.

Lee Lehman has a good section on Babylonian omenology, goal and sidereal periods in Classical Astrology for Modern Living, too - and at least part of it is on Google books.

I will seek out James Holden's book, and what is whitfields full name?

In the mean time other recommendations still happily listened for.

Granny

If I've understood correctly, The Dawn of Astrology by Nick Champion deals with the early days of our art. Here's a review:

http://www.skyscript.co.uk/rev_campion.html

I haven't seen Champion's book myself, but I've read mixed opinions on it. At least David Roell from Astroamerica doesn't seem too impressed:

http://www.astroamerica.com/history.html#c116

I was very impressed by Nick Campion's book and it covers the period asked about as you can see from the synopsis. http://www.amazon.co.uk/Dawn-Astrology- ... 609&sr=1-1

Matthew

Look at this list:

David Pingree, "Astrology", in: Dictionary of the History of Ideas. New York 1973-1974.
http://etext.virginia.edu/cgi-local/DHI ... ?id=dv1-20

A very good overview about the early history, significant milestones and various branches of astrology. Not really in favor but it is quite neutral and only slightly outdated.

David Pingree, From Astral Omens to Astrology: From Babylon to B?k?ner. Rome 1997.

Based on a series of lectures, one of the best summaries on the turning points of astrology. It is not very detailed from the perspective of an astrologer, but a valuable and thinkful approach which is to be considered even for them regarding textual criticism and scientific transmission.

Monographies on Mesopotamian star-lore:

Ulla Koch-Westenholz, Mesopotamian Astrology: An Introduction to Babylonian and Assyrian Celestial Divination. Copenhagen 1995.
Hermann Hunger and David Pingree, Astral Sciences in Mesopotamia. Leiden 1999.
Francesca Rochberg, The Heavenly Writing: Divination, Horoscopy, and Astronomy in Mesopotamian Culture. Cambridge 2004.

These books are fairly up-to-date. Google Books provides previews of them.

Monographies on Greek astrology:

Auguste Bouch?-Leclercq, L'astrologie grecque. Paris 1899.
http://www.archive.org/details/lastrolo ... 00boucuoft

In French. The oldest and biggest monography on Greek astrology. Very seriously outdated but as the most comprehensive of its sort, there is a great deal of interesting information. Although there are some more recent surveys which claim to supersede it, they seem to be rubbish.

Wilhelm Gundel and Hans Georg Gundel, Astrologumena: Die astrologische Literatur in der Antike und ihre Geschichte. Wiesbaden 1966.

In German. A real treasure of information, however, the attributions and dates are often faulty. Little comparative material from Sanskrit and Pahlav? sources. Still, the most detailed of its kind.

David Pingree, The Yavanaj?taka of Sphujidhvaja. Vols. 2. Cambridge 1978.

While primarily intended to be an edition of the earlies Sanskrit astrological work, the 2nd volume contains enormous comparative material of early Sanskrit and Greek astrology, and a really useful section of biographical information for Arabic, Greek and Indian authors.

If you want some more titles, see David Juste's bibliography:
http://warburg.sas.ac.uk/institute/astr ... ointro.htm

There have been some great recommendations here. I guess it all depends how academic a work you are looking for. Two books I would personally recommend that have not been mentioned yet are as follows:

Ancient Astrology by Tamsyn Barton. If you interested in the Greek and Roman period astrology this book is for you. The book is a good compromise between dry academic and over simplistic populist approach. Barton really warms to her topic and even has a go at delineating Prince Charles' chart using some hellenistic techniques.

You can check much of the book out on google books and decide for yourself.

Babylonian Star-Lore by Gavin White Regarding Mesopotanian astrology this is the most accessible and useful book I have come across although ironically it is not specfically about astrology but crucial to it nonetheless. The book is excellent and borrows from many of the heavier going texts cited above. Its one of my favourite books at present. The book speculates on links between Baylonian and Egyptian star beliefs in the Dendera Zodiac.The book is packed with the author's own wonderful illustrations of the Babylonian constellations (far more than the zodiacal ones) and this really brings the material to life.

There is a review of the book by Deb here:
http://skyscript.co.uk/rev_BSL.html

You can see a selection from the book here:
http://www.skyscript.co.uk/white.html