John Booker 1602-1667
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John BOOKER 1602-1667
Biographical Note
Born at Manchester; apprenticed to a London haberdasher in 1616, but did not pursue that trade, working for a while as a clerk and a teacher of writing. He became interested in astrology, and began publishing an annual series of almanacs in 1631. He was staunchly parliamentarian during the 1640s and became increasingly radical in his views; he predicted, wrongly, various political upheavals. He was appointed by parliament as a licenser of mathematical books during the 1640s and 50s. His casebooks for 1648-65, written in shorthand, survive among the Ashmolean Manuscripts in the Bodleian Library, noting ca.16,500 queries he received during that period.
Books
Booker's books were bought from his widow by Elias Ashmole in 1667, for £140.
Sources
- Capp, Bernard. "Booker, John (1602–1667), astrologer." Oxford Dictionary of National Biography.
- Feisenberger, H. A. Sale catalogues of libraries of eminent persons: 11: scientists, London, 1975, 3.