Pièce MS114 - Extract from Comiers' Pratique Curieuse, ou Les Oracles des Sibylles

Bound manuscript, 171 pp. -- Italic hand. -- Laid paper, 19 cm x 24 cm

Item consists of a manuscript copy, written into a blank book, of an extract from the printed work by Claude Comiers entitled Pratique Curieuse, ou Les Oracles des Sibylles, Sur Chaque Question Proposée, the first edition of which was published in 1693. Subsequent editions were published into the late eighteenth century. It is unclear which edition is represented in this manuscript copy. An edition of 1750 matches this manuscript in terms of content and page numbering.

His book Pratique Curieuse uses tables and keys to determine the fortunes of the reader, based on calculations made through numbers associated with various elements. No description of how to make these calculations has been included in the portion contained in this manuscript copy.

Foliated [1], 1-170, [1], the final page being blank. These numbers were derived from the page numbers of the edition used to make the copy. The blank book was imposed in quarto format and bound with six bands. It is certain that this was a blank book, since, for example, the lines written on the first page transferred to the inside of the front cover before they dried. The original pale blue paper cover was at some point itself covered over, likely due to the apparent cracking of the spine, with a slightly thinner red wavy striped paper cover cut slightly too large, now also cracked and chipped along the spine. Paper has the watermark 'MI' with what appears to be a bell and an oak leaf surmounted by a crown. The only illustration is on p. 73 and depicts an angel's head with wings, drawn perhaps with the same pen and ink used to transcribe the book. Italic hand. Relatively modern and consistent orthography.