NOSTRADAMUS, Michael (1503-1566). The True Prophecies or Prognostications of?, Physician to Henry II. Francis II. and Charles IX. Kings of France, and one of the best Astronomers that ever were. A work full of curiosity and learning. Translated into English with comments by Theophilus de Garencieres. London: Thomas Ratcliffe and Nathaniel Thompson for John Martin et al, 1672. FIRST EDITION IN ENGLISH. Nostradamus ?began his prophetic writings in the early 1540s with a series of short yearly almanacs in which he made predictions in verse. The new art of printing gratified a popular demand for supernaturally acquired 'certainty,' and such almanacs were a common literary production of the day. It was with Les Proph?ties (1555), however, that Nostradamus became an author of contemporary reputation and a figure who has had an impact on later history? [His more than 1000 rhyming quatrains, arranged in ?centuries? of 100] constitute the largest body of prophetic verse prepared to that day, perhaps in all literature? (Clute & Grant 694). Theophilus de Garenci?res, a French apothecary and occultist living in England, provided the first English translation of the famous prophecies of Nostradamus, along with explanations for each. A HANDSOME COPY. ESTC R13646; Wing N-1399.