LILLY, William (1602-1681). Catastrophe Mundi: or, Merlin Reviv'd, In a Discourse of Prophecies & Predictions, And their Remarkable Accomplishment. London: John How and Thomas Malthus, 1683.

8vo (146 x 95 mm). 17 full-page woodcuts. (Front endpapers removed, illustration on p.29 torn at lower corner with loss and a closed tear slightly affecting text on E8, some soiling.) Contemporary sheep (spine torn near head, some wear at corners). Provenance: Ermengarda Greville-Nugent (ownership signature), daughter and heiress of Augustus Ogilvy of Cove and wife of Hon. Patrick Emilius J. Greville-Nugent; early calculations and an astronomical mini-chart on inner front board.

FIRST EDITION. Apocalyptic prophecies concerning England and the reign of King Charles I and II, drawn from a variety of sources. These images, together with some portion of the test, originally appeared in Lilly's 1651 work Monarchy or No Monarchy, but the present work includes significant original text and additional prophecies previously unpublished including ones by Nostradamus. The suite of images in this volume notably retains the woodcut showing a city in flames, which caused trouble for the author in the aftermath of the Great Fire of London in 1666, when he was summoned by a parliamentary committee suspicious of his possible involvement. ESTC R231167; Wing L2214.