The Author's Additions, and Advertiſement to the Reader.

IT is not any Itch of wri­ting poſſeſſes me, Courteous Reader, that I here preſent thee with theſe Curioſities: thoſe that know me, have found me very free from this fooliſh paſſion. But a perſon of quality, whom to deny any thing, were a great Crime in me, hath forced them out of my Cloſet, whence otherwiſe they never ſhould have come: ſince I had reſolv'd, after ſo many Calumnies indured, never to adven­ture more into the Publick View, having ſo oftentimes ſighed forth thoſe words of a Roman Prince; Utinam neſciſſem literas! But in fine, the Intreaties, and Commands of my friends have prevailed againſt my own Reſolution; and I am forced, I con­feſſe, to this Publication; ſince I could not but foreſee well enough, that my Enemies would not relliſh at all this other Eſſay of my pen: notwithſtanding after all this, I have wherewith to comfort my ſelf; ſince one of the greateſt Prelates of our Age hath condemned their Inſolence. Receive there­fore favourably this Diſcourſe, Courteous Reader; and remember what we all are: I will not ſay, thou ſhalt find all things perfect here; for I am no Angel: and if there be any defects, we muſt accuſe our Mortality, which renders all Mankind ſub­ject to Errour. But above all, know, that I am no whit obſtinate, or ſelf-conceited, nor never was; I take in very good part what Advertiſements ſoever are given me: nei­ther doe I account my ſelfe ſo knowing, but that I ſhall be very ready to learne of any man: they are fooles only, and vain­glorious, that refuſe to be taught; and the Ignorant only ſay, They know all. As for my part, Courteous Reader, uſe me but friendly, and I ſhall require nothing elſe.

If thou thinke it ſtrange, that a man of the Church, as I am, ſhould adventure on ſo bold, and daring a Subject, as this ſeems to be; conſider, I pray thee, that many of my Profeſſion have put forth things much more bold then theſe; and even ſuch as have been eſteemed Dangerous too. Thus Tri­themius the Abbot put forth his Polygraphy, and his Steganography, where the Calling forth of Spirits is plainely delivered; not­withſtanding he makes other uſe of it, then our Sorcerers doe. Gulielmus Biſhop of Pa­ris hath not only written of Naturall Ma­gick, but he alſo both perfectly underſtood, and practiſ'd it, as the Learned Picus Mi­randula reports of him. Another Learned Biſhop alſo, Albertus Magnus by name, hath taught the grounds of it with admiration. Ro­ger Bacon, and Joannes de Rupeſciſſa, both Franciſcan Friers, have done the ſame. Pe­trus Cirvellus, a Spaniard of the ſame Or­der, hath publiſhed to the Chriſtian World a Book in Folio, of the Foure Prin­cipall kinds of Divination, and all the Ma­ximes of Judiciary Aſtrology. P. de Al­liaco, a Cardinall, and Biſhop of Cambray, hath written of the ſame Subject: as alſo hath Junctinus, a Prieſt of Florence, and a D^r. of Divinity. And ſince we are fallen upon the Italians, have not Aurelius Augu­rellus, and Pantheus, both Prieſts, the one a Venetian, the other a Tarviſian, delivered the Fooleries of the Philoſophers Stone, the one in his Chryſopaea, and the other in his Voar­chadumia? Marſilius Ficinus alſo, a Prieſt, how full of Superſtition are his writings? yea what Superſtition is there in the World, that he hath not publiſhed to open View? Antonius Bernardus Mirandulanus, Biſhop of Caſerte, hath, after his example, maintained a world of things, cleane contrary to our Religion, in his book, De ſingulari certamine. The Cardinall Cajetan de Vio hath done the very ſame: and Giovanni Ingegneri, Biſhop of Cabo d'Iſtria, hath newly buſied himſelf in maintaining the Grounds of Phyſiogno­my. And before all theſe, Syneſius, a Chri­ſtian Biſhop, wrote a book of the Interpre­tation of Dreames, commented on afterwards by Nicephorus Gregoras, a Biſhop alſo, or Patriarch, of Conſtantinople. I omit the Superſtitions of Joachimus Abbas; and of Savanarola, a Dominican Frier; with Car­dinall Bembus his Gli Aſolani; Aeneas Syl­vius (who was afterward Pope Pius II.) his Lucrece; the book ſo full of all Lewd­neſſe of Poggius the Florentine, who was Se­cretary to the Pope. Neither will I men­tion the Macaronick Hiſtory, put forth under the name of Merlin Coccai, but written by The­ophilus Folengius, a Benedictine Frier; nor an infinite number of other books, written by Church-men, with which, Kind Read­er, if thou compare this of mine, thou wilt find, if any blame me, they do it wrong­fully.

And that thou mayſt be fully acquainted with my purpoſe in this diſcourſe, know, that I give no more credit to any of theſe Curioſities, then the Catholique and Apo­ſtolique Church permits; and that I have not publiſhed them, at leaſt ſome of the moſt nice and tickliſh, but after many Chriſtians of my Profeſſion; as thou mayſt perceive by the Sequel. As touching Jeroboam's Calves, I am not the firſt, who hath ſaid, that the making of them was Lawfull, and that this King was no Idolater: the Learn­ed Genebrard hath led me the way; and af­ter him, Moncaeus; and before them, Abiu­dan: and I ſhall be very ready to withdraw my ſelf out of their company, if I find there be any danger in't. If thou object, that theſe Curioſities, ought not therefore to be called, Unheard-of; ſeeing that they have been hand­led by others: I anſwer, that the greateſt part of them were Vnheard-of, to Chriſti­ans; ſince that I have collected them out of the writings of the Jewes; where they were delivered ſo obſcurely, that even thoſe of their own Nation neglected them. As for the Taliſmanicall Figures, they were ſo Vnheard-of in our Age, that their very name was not ſo much as knowne. Now that thou mayſt have a more perfect underſtand­ing of what is delivered in the enſuing Diſcourſe, be pleaſed to adde this which fol­loweth.

In the Firſt Part, Cap. 1. p. 7. I ſay, that I had not been able to diſcover the reaſon, why Plutarch, Strabo, Trogus, Tacitus, and Diodorus had accuſed the Jewes of worſhip­ping a Vine: I have ſince found, that it was, becauſe they had heard ſay, and even them­ſelves ſeen, at leaſt ſome of them, that in the Temple at Jeruſalem, there was a Golden Vine, with it's leaves, and cluſters of grapes, made againſt the wall; as it is deſcribed by Joſephus. Interior porta, ſaies he, tota inau­rata erat, ut dixi, & circum eam auratus pa­ries, deſuper autem habebat aureos pampinos, unde racemi, ſtaturâ hominis, dependebant. I know very well, that many ſo underſtand the words of Joſephus, as if this Vine were not of Solid, Maſſy gold, but only gilded, after the manner of Phrygian work. But the other Joſephus, the Sonne of Gorion, contradicts this Interpretation of the words: for, ſpeaking in the ſame Hiſtory (of the Deſtruction of Jeruſalem) both more clear­ly, and more at large, of this Golden Vine, and it's bunches of Grapes, he ſaies: Fecit inſuper Herodes vitem de auro mundo, & poſu­it in ſummitatem colümnarum, cujus pondus erat mille talentorum aureorum. Erat autem vitis ipſa facta opere ingenioſo, habens ramos perplexos; cujus folia, & germina facta erant ex rutilanti auro; botri autem ex auro fulvo; & grana ejus, acini, atque folliculi facti erant ex lapidibus precioſis: totumqueopus erat fa­brefactum opere vario, ut eſſet mirandum ſpecta­culum, & gaudium cordis omnibus intuentious ipſam. And preſently after he addes: Mul­ti quoque ſcriptores Romani teſtantur, ſe eam­vidiſſe, cum deſolaretur Templum. Now the fore-named Authors, Plutarch, Strabo, and the reſt, ſeeing that the Jewes had in their Temple a Golden Vine, ſo rich, ſo preci­ous, and of ſo admirable workmanſhip; they were eaſily perſwaded that they worſhipped it, in honour of Bacchus, who was the firſt that ſubdued the Eaſt: and this is the Opi­nion of Cornelius Tacitus, who lived at the ſame time, when this Beautifull Temple was deſtroyed. Sed quia, ſaith he, Sacerdotes Judaeorum tibia, tympaniſque concinebant, he­dera vinciebantur, vitiſque aurea in Templo reperta; Liberum Patrem coli, domitorem Ori­entis, quidam arbitrati ſunt; nequaquàm con­gruentibus inſtitutis: Quippe Liber feſtos, lae­toſque ritus poſuit; Judaeorum mos abſurdus, ſordiduſque. But we paſſe by this Impious Author, who makes a mock at the Religion of the Jewes on all occaſions.

In the Second Part, Chap. 4 pag. 86. where I render the Greek words,〈…〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, by theſe French words, Menues Penſees, Little thoughts, I have tranſlated the Greek word,〈…〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉as it ought to be underſtood, which ſignifies properly, Little, Delicate, and ſmall: as we call one of the Greek letters Ypſilon, that is to ſay, the Little Y. Now the Se­cond Thoughts are Small, Fine, and Delicate, becauſe they conſider things abſtracted, and ſeparated from Matter; which the Firſt doe not: And therefore we ſay in French very e­legantly, when wee ſpeake of one that hath brought forth any curious conceit, voila vne penſée bien deſtièe.

In the following Chap. you may adde theſe admirable Gamahes. At Piſa, in the Church of St. John, you have, on a certaine ſtone, an Old Hermite, perfectly drawn by Nature on­ly; but with ſo much exactneſſe, that there ſeemes not to be wanting any thing that be­longs to one of that ſort of men. For he is re­preſented in a Deſert, ſuitable to his profeſſi­on, and ſitting neare a Brooks ſide, with a Clock in his hand. This Naturall piece of Picture, almoſt fully anſwers That, they de­liver St. Anthony in. In the Temple of S. So­phia, at Conſtantinople, there is alſo ſeen, up­on a plain white Marble, the Image of S. John Baptiſt, cloathed with a Camels skinne; be­ing only defective in this, that Nature hath drawn him but with one foote. At Ravenna, in the Church of St. Vitalis, there is to be ſeen a Franciſcan Frier, naturally drawn, up­on a ſtone of an Aſh-colour. At Sneiberg in Germany, there was found in the Earth, a cer­taine little Statue of a kind of unrefined Me­tall, naturally made; which repreſented, in a round Figure, a man having a little Child at his back: and whoever hath any where ſeene the picture of St. Chriſtopher, may eaſily con­ceive the ſhape of this. It is not long ſince there was found, in the Hercinian Foreſt, a Stone that naturally repreſented the figure of an old man, with a long beard, and crowned with a Triple Crowne, as the Pope of Rome is. Obſerve likewiſe that many of theſe Stones, or Gamahes, are called all by the ſame name, becauſe they have alwayes the ſame figure. So that, which repreſents the Eyes of a man, is called Leucophthalmos: that which beares the figure of a Heart, Encardia: that which hath the ſhape of a Tongue repreſented on it, Gloſſo­petra: that which is figured like the Genitals, Enorchis: and if it repreſent as well the ſecret parts of man, as of a woman, it is then called Diphys, &c.

To the figures that are found in Plants, and Flowers, you may likewiſe adde thoſe which repreſent ſome kind of Letters, or words: as the Hyacinth, on which the Poët ſayes, is written the Complaint of the fair Phoebus, for having killed Hyacinthus; whom he afterward transformed into a Flowre of the ſame name: and this Complaint of his is expreſt in theſe two Letters,〈…〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, which make up the word, Ai, which we frequently uſe in all kinds of ſorrow.

The Flower alſo that ſprung, (according to the fiction of the ſame Poët,) from the blood of the valiant Ajax, beares the two firſt letters of his name, Ai.

As for the diverſe kinds of Figures that wee meet withall in beaſts, (which we have like­wiſe examined in the ſame Chapter,) I have found nothing more worthy our admiration, then what I have been lately informed of by Eye-witneſſes: namely, that it is not long ſince, that in diverſe parts of Poitou it rained a certaine kind of little creatures, about an Inch in bigneſſe; ſome whereof were in the ſhape of Biſhops, with a Rochet and hood, cloſed up in a ſhell, or skin, ſo admirably, that one would have thought it to have been of burniſhed gold: others were in ſhape like Fri­ers, with a Frocke and Cowle: ſome were of a certaine horrid ſhape; and others like I know not what. It is a great wonder, if this Rela­tion come among the Dutchmen, if wee have not very ſpeedily ſome ſtrange Interpretation of the Revelation, ſuch a one as Ananias Je­raucurius, and Raphael Eglinus have given, (as we ſhall ſhew hereafter) of the dark Viſi­ons of Daniel, by the help of certaine Chara­cters found upon two Herrings, taken up up-the coaſt of Norway. But to paſſe by theſe Fooleries.

In the Sixth Chapter, where I ſpeake of di­verſe ſorts of Taliſmans, and prove their ver­tue, according to the opinion of the Eaſterne parts; you muſt take heed, that you mixe not all ſorts of Characters, and figures, indiffe­rently, with theſe Taliſmans. For though many of them beare the Figures of the living creatures deſcribed in the Heavens, which we uſually call Conſtellations, they are not there­fore preſently to paſſe for true Taliſmans; but either ſome kind of Mony; as that of the Duke of Brunſwicke, whereon were ingraven all the Celeſtial Signes; and that of Auguſtus Coeſar, on which he cauſed the Sign of Capricorn to be figured; for no other reaſon, but only in me­mory that he was born under that Signe. Or elſe theſe Figures are only ſome Myſtical Em­blemes, under which the Ancients couched ſome certaine Philoſophical Secret. Such was Neſtor's Silver Goblet, in Homer, whereon the Pleiades were ingraven: as you may ſee here in the Tranſlation of Natalis Comes, which is more Poëticall then that of Gipha­nius.

Whoever therefore knows not the Myſti­call meaning of this Goblet, would, without doubt, ſeeing the Pleiades engraven on it, be apt to conceive, that it was made under ſome certaine Conſtellation, as Taliſmans are: where as there is nothing elſe in it, but a Phi­loſophical Senſe, thus darkly delivered by Ho­mer; as we may ſee in Alciat, who explaines the meaning of it thus.

The Poët Anacreon, who conſulted with Bacchus, as often as with his Muſe, makes him­ſelfe merry with this Goblet of Neſtor; and in­treats Vulcan to make him one, without ſuch a deale of Philoſophy, enough to make one cracke his braines: For, what have I to doe, quoth he, with the Pleiades, or bright-ſhining Boötes? Make me therefore, good Vulcan, neither Armes, nor weapons: but make me a Bowle, as deepe a one as thou canſt; and in­grave thereon no Stars, neither Charles his Waine, nor the ſad Orion; but carve me out a Vine, with it's ſwelling grapes, and Cupid, Bacchus, and Bathillus, preſſing them together. His verſes are thus tranſlated by H. Stephanus, very elegantly.

Theſe verſes have often made me doubt, whether or no, many of thoſe pretious ſtones that we ſee in Ancient Rings, which are com­monly taken for Taliſmans, (ſuch as was that of our Countryman Bagarris, whereof I make mention:) on which we find Cupids, Bacchus, Vines, bunches of grapes, and vine-branches ingraven, were not rather the effects of ſome gallant Humor of ſome Philoſophers, who de­ſired to weare on their fingers the Emblemes of Wine, rather then any other figures.

In the ſame Sixth Chapter, where I ſpeake of the power of Reſemblance, I know not how, in the 172. page, the word, France, hath ſlipt in, inſtead of Italy. For it is in Italy chiefly, where the Leproſie is ſo frequent, by reaſon of the great quantity of Hogs fleſh that is eaten there, more then in any other Kingdome: and the reaſon that in France, we ſee ſome infected with this diſeaſe, is, becauſe that here, next to the Italians, they eate more hogs fleſh, then any where elſe. Neither do I ſay this, but according to the opinion of Phyſicians, without the leaſt purpoſe of of­fending any, either Strangers, or thoſe of my owne Nation. In a word, Courteous Rea­der, I ſhall deſire thee to interpret in good part, whatſoever thou ſhalt find in this Book; ſeeing that my purpoſe is to deale clearely, as one exempt from paſſion.

In the 77. page of the ſame Chapter, my intent is not to ranke Joſeph's gift of Interpre­ting Dreames with the Art of Conjecturing at the meaning of Dreames: Nor yet to reject the order of the Commandements, eſtabliſhed by the Church, and to introduce that which is ſet downe, page 291. for I there follow the Jewes manner of counting them.

Laſtly, I muſt intreat thee to correct the faults of the Preſſe; and uſe mee, as thou wouldſt be uſed thy ſelf.