Smith, E. M. ‘The Zoidia or the Cherubim in the Bible and the Cherubim in the Sky’ Elliot Stock, 62, Paternoster Row, E.C., London, 1906. This copy signed by author in dedication to a presumed relative on half-title: ‘H. E. Smith, Vederoney[1], Letherhead, From the Author, Christmas 1906′. It also bears two added handwritten footnotes in the same ink and hand, thus presumed also by the author, to lower margins of pp. 155 and 258.
Original cloth. [1 leaf] + [12-panel large blue-tinted folding star map[2] (repaired by clear tape at one margin)] +[1 leaf] + [p. v] + [pp. vii-xv] + 124 + [blue-tinted plate after Bullinger] + [pp. 125-134] + [blue-tinted plate after Bullinger] + [pp. 135-176] + [blue-tinted plate after Bullinger] + [pp. 177-196] + [blue-tinted plate after Bullinger] + [pp. 197-202] + [blue-tinted plate after Bullinger] + [pp. 203-4] + [blue-tinted plate after Bullinger] + [pp. 205-6] + [blue-tinted plate after Bullinger] + [pp. 207-236] + [blue-tinted plate after Bullinger] + [pp. 237-258] + [blue-tinted plate after Bullinger] + [pp. 259-278] + [blue-tinted plate after Bullinger] + [pp. 279-347] + [pp. 349-376] + [very wide 5-panel folding chart]
[1] The initial capital letters to both the forename of the recipient and the first place name following the surname are very hard to decipher and might be otherwise than assumed here
[2] Reproduced from ‘The Witness of the Stars’ by E. W. Bullinger, q. v., with permission, in common with the other plates in this volume, which are just a selection of those in Bullinger’s work
About this Book Scan
We know very little about E. M. Smith, but the author’s book The Zoidia is an interesting example of the interest in Bible astrology that persisted through the 18th and 19th centuries into the early 20th. In particular, Smith explores the parallels between the constellations and the Biblical scriptures.
The book is divided into two main parts, of which the first explores a selection of symbols in the Bible, while the second is particularly devoted to the history of the zodiac, constellations, and months, including whole chapters devoted to each of the zodiacal constellations in turn.
Our scan is a full-colour reproduction from the original printing of the scarce 1906 first edition in our library.