"THE MAN IN THE ALMANACK."
(Vol. v., p. 320.)
Nat Lee's _Man i' th' Almanack stuck with Pins_ has no reference to
"pricking for fortunes;" but to the figure of a man surrounded by the
signs of the zodiac found in old almanacks, and intended to indicate the
favourable, adverse, or indifferent periods for bloodletting. From the
various signs are _lines_ drawn to various parts of the naked figure;
and these lines give it very much the appearance of being _stuck with
pins_.
I have not ready access to any old English almanacks; but a German one
of the early part of the sixteenth century contained the figure as above
described, with this inscription:
"In dieser Figur sihet man in welchem
Zeichen güt, mittel, oder böss lassen sey."
Surrounding the frame, the words "güt," "mittel," or "böss" are placed
against each sign of the zodiac from which the lines are drawn; and
underneath the figure are the following verses:
"Im Glentz und in des Sommers zeit,
So lass du auff der rechten seyt,
In Winters zeit, und in dem Herbst,
Auff der lincken;--dass du nit sterbst."
Some former possessor has written on the margin:
"Signa coeli sunt 12. sqr:
"Quatuor _boni_: Aries, Libra, Sagittarius, et Aquarius.
"Et etiam quatuor _medii_, sqr.: Cancro, Virgo,
Scorpio, et Pisces.
"Et quatuor _mali_: Geminij, Leo, Capricornus et
Taurus."
Similar figures no doubt occur in our old English almanacks. I will
merely add that the figure above described is pasted on the back of the
title-page of an edition of _Regimen Sanitatis_, with an interlineary
version in German verse, bearing the following imprint: "Impressum
Auguste per Johannem Froschauer, Anno D[=m] MDij." 4to.
The book also bears a German title which, as it mentions the subject of
bloodletting [lassen], I may as well transcribe: ¶ _Diss ist das
Regiment der Gesuntheyt durch all monat des ganzen iars, wie man sich
halten sol mit essen und trincken, und auch von lassen._ I presume that
the rules for bloodletting which accompany the old almanacks are chiefly
derived from this _Regimen Sanitatis_, which is founded upon that of the
school of Salerno, as they form a principal feature in its precepts.
This edition of the book does not appear to have been known to Sir
Alexander Croke: I will therefore give the general precepts for the
twelve months which are prefixed to it.
"Januarius { Ante cibum vina
{ tu sumas pro medicina.
Februarius { Non minuas, non balnearis,
{ Mala ne patiaris.
Marcius { Hic assature
{ tibi sunt balnea quoque cure.
Aprilis { Ut vivas sane minuas venam
{ Medicinam.
Mayus { Carnes arescentes
{ non sume sed recentes.
Junius { Sanus eris totus
{ si fons erit tibi potus.
Julius { Ut tua te vita
{ non vitas balnea vita.
Augustus { Potio te lædit
{ te quippe minutio sedat.
September { Tempore Septembris
{ prodest agrimonia membris.
October { Sumere que potes
{ et musti pocula potes.
{ Hoc tibi scire datur
November { quod reuma Novembri curatur,
{ Potio sit sana
{ atque minutio bona.
December { Sit tepidus potus
{ frigori contrarie totus."
Such were the popular dietetics, and the almanacks were made the vehicle
of communicating them. As late as the year 1659, Edmund Gayton, author
of the _Festivous Notes on Don Quixote_, put forth a book in verse
entitled _The Art of Longevity, or a Dietetical Institution_. He had
graduated in physic at Oxford, but in his book he plays the part of a
Merry Andrew more than that of a physician. The book, however, is
curious as well as rare.