Ps.-Antonio Torquato, 1552

Prophecies on the Ottoman Empire
Ps.-Antonio Torquato, 1552
TORQUATO, Ps.-Antonio (15th century). Prognosticon de eversione Europae, & alia quaedam. Antwerp: Martinus Nutius, 1552.

Unusual collection of works on the Ottoman Empire and Asia, second edition. The first treatise here is a popular prophecy attributed to the 15th-century astrologer Antonio Torquato (or Arquato) which predicted, among other things, the eventual fall of the Ottoman empire. The fact that this work is actually a contemporary forgery produced electrifyingly accurate predictions. The other works here include the famous letter of Prester John—the fabled king of a secret Christian kingdom in Western China—and two short texts on the Turks. Adams T-811; Göllner (Turcica) III:341. See Noel Malcolm, Useful Enemies: Islam and the Ottoman Empire in Western Political Thought (2019), pp. 71-73.

Octavo (143 x 87mm). Woodcut device on title. 18th-century calf, with about 25 blank leaves bound at end (front board re-glued, chips to spine). Provenance: Wilbraham Family, Delamere House, Northwick, Cheshire (armorial bookplate).