Contents of the Three Books:
(1) “The first (book) containing the use of an Ephemeris, the erecting of a Scheam of Heaven; nature of the twelve Signs of the Zodiack…”— An easy introduction to covering planetary positions, creating charts “scheam of heaven”, and understand the nature of signs, planets, and houses.
(2) “The Second (book), by a most Methodical way, Instructeth the Student how to Judge or Resolve all manner of Questions contingent unto Man...”– A more thorough and in-depth instructional guide teaching how to resolve specific/practical questions regarding wealth, health, marriage, and day-to-day matters.
(3) “The Third (book), contains an exact Method, whereby to Judge upon Nativities; several ways how to rectify them; How to judge the general fate of the Native by the twelve Houses of Heaven…“— How to judge the general fate of a person based on their time/date of birth and the twelve houses. The twelve houses are distinct areas of life that come together to form a 360-degree wheel: (1) Self, (2) Possessions, (3) Communication, (4) Home & Family, (5) Creativity, (6) Routine, (7) Partnerships, (8) Transformation, (9) Philosophy, (10) Career, (11) Friendship, (12) Subconscious.
Catalog Identification & Copy-Specific Conditions
Author: William Lilly (b. 1602-d. 1681) Westminster, England Publisher: Printed by Thomas Brudenell for John Partridge and Humphrey Blunden, in Blackfriars at the Gate, going into Carter-lane, and in Cornhill, 1647.
Title: “Christian Astrology Modestly Treated of in Three Books”
Edition: 1st edition
Subject Heading:
Astrology > Early works to 1800.
Astrology > Religious aspects > Early works to 1800.
Medicine, Medieval.
Astrology > history.
History, Medieval.
Series: William D. and Helen M. Chase Collection.
LCCN: 09012577
Classification-LC: QB26. L71 1647
— Link to MSU catalog record: https://catalog.lib.msu.edu/Record/folio.in00007110118
Special Title Pages & Illustrations
Engraved portrait of author and master astrologer, William Lilly. A part of the laid-in material that is unbound from this copy of the book.
Special Title pages:
Special Title page for “The First (Book)” of this sammelbände, pg. 25. Introduction to Astrology with woodcut header and initial letter.
Special Title page for “The Second (Book)” of this sammelbände, pg. 129. Woodcut header and initial letter, The Resolution of all manner of Questions and Demands.
Special Title page for “The Third (Book)” of this sammelbände, pg.487. An Easy and plaine Method Teaching how to judge upon Nativities encapsulated by a woodcut border.
Book Conditions:
Environmental marking presumably made from human error by spilling ink. This environmental marking spans pages 91-95, recto and verso of each leaf. One of many environmental markings throughout this copy.
Illegible marginalia on page 24. A mix of astrological signs and sparse, legible words written by an unknown owner of this copy.
Illegible markings line the marginalia throughout the book in a similar fashion. This example in the image to the left provides evidence that the book was rebound and excised, or possibly just excised, as seen by the cutoff marginalia annotation above the sprinkles of ink (environmental marking).
Signs of foxing (water stains) in multiple portions of this copy. Evident of exposure to the elements or improper storage. This specific image provides the best example of water stains as well as excising of the original gatherings.
Based on the excised leaves and the state of the binding, it could be assumed that this copy was rebound at some point in its existence. Nonetheless, the leather binding on the spine is deteriorating, as well as the back and front covers from extended use, visible along the center of the spine.
Author William Lilly & a Brief Insight into Horary Astrology
William Lilly was a famous English astrologer of the 17th century. He was born on May 1, 1602, in Diseworth, Leicestershire. Lilly began studying astrology in 1632 and, less than a decade later, established a professional practice in 1641. His reputation grew rapidly, particularly during the English Civil War, when he became closely associated with the Parliamentary side. According to accounts of the time, it was even said that if King Charles I had secured Lilly’s support, he would have been worth “a half a dozen regiments.”Lilly published a number of astrological almanacs throughout his career. In 1647, he wrote Christian Astrology Modestly Treated in Three Books, which became the most definitive English-language work on horary astrology.
Horary astrology is a traditional branch of astrology with roots in the Middle East and the Far East (Buddhist cultures). It’s an attempt to answer specific questions relating to fate, health, wealth, and so on, utilizing interpretations of a chart that was created using dates of birth and celestial alignments. This practice of predictive astrology emerged from Hellenistic and medieval traditions and was later formalized in early modern Europe by men like William Lilly. It relies on a symbolic system in which planetary positions and aspects are consulted to produce a judgement about the question being asked at a given point in time. Despite its long intellectual and cultural history, horary astrology is not supported by modern science and disciplines such as astronomy or psychology. Astrology itself is considered a pseudoscience and, as a result, is best understood as a historically significant system of symbolic interpretations, not a reliable method for scientifically predicting outcomes based on specific questions and the relations to celestial alignments.
This text is considered one of the finest instructional books on the subject and remains an influential work in traditional astrology. Lilly was also made famous for his alleged prediction of the Great Fire of London in 1666, further enhancing his reputation as a skilled astrologer. Following the Restoration of the monarchy, Lilly faced repeated investigations because he supported Parliament during the Civil War. Despite this scrutiny, he avoided serious consequences and continued his successful astrological practice. He remained active in astrology for the rest of his life, maintaining a thriving professional career.
Lineage of Ownership
Below is a table covering the provenance of ownership based on initial autographs and the proscribed list of ownership most likely made by Charles M. Adams, the last Adams family member to own this copy of Christian Astrology Modestly Treated in Three Books. Israel Adams’ initial autograph on the bottom of the back pastedown endleaf, “Israel Adams 1741”, is the earliest autograph to be found; therefore, it’s the starting point in this provenance.
Stephen Olney & Abraham Olney Adams are included in the table with an asterisk by their names, but not the official provenance included on this site. I’m choosing to omit their backgrounds because there are no autographs or ownership inscriptions made by either, except for what Charles M. Adams would transcribe almost 200 years later based on information found on fly leaves that no longer exist.
Table of Ownership:
| Husband & Wife or Wives | Date of Marriage | Children | Residence |
| *Stephen Olney Adams (b. 1620) m. twice (1) Lydia Hartwell, (2) Priscilla Durrie | 1) Stephen & Lydia Hartwell- 1645 in England (2) Stephen & Priscilla Durrie- 1678 in Massachusetts | Abraham Olney Adams (“One of others” between Stephen Olney & Priscilla Durrie according to “A genealogical history of Robert Adams, of Newbury, Mass., and his descendants, 1635-1900”) | Massachusetts |
| *Abraham Olney Adams (b. 1680) m. once to Hannah La Grasse | Unknown | Israel Adams (b. in Quincy, MA) | Massachusetts |
| Israel Adams (b.1706-d.1789) m. thrice (1) Mercy Holdridge, (2) Tabitha Farnum, (3) Polly White | (1) Israel & Mercy Holdridge- 1726 (2) Israel & Tabitha Farnum- 1733 (3) Israel & Polly White- Unknown | (1) Stephen, son of Israel and Mercy Holdridge | -Keene & Rindge, New Hampshire (Rindge, N.H. is Israel’s final resting place) -Andover & Littleton, Massachusetts |
| Stephen Adams (b.1728-1811) m. Susanna Dorman | Married in 1760 | Jacob Adams | -Henniker, New Hampshire |
| Jacob Adams (b.1751-d.1841) m. Lydia Hall | Married in 1790 | John Hancock Adams | -Rowley, Massachusetts -New Lebanon, New York |
| John H. Adams (b.1796-d.1884) m. Abby Everest | Married in 1830 | John Merriam Adams | West Lebanon, New York |
| John M. Adams (b. 1834-d. 1907) m. Harriet Bigelow | Married in 1859 | George N. Adams, John A. Adams, Frank S. Adams, & Charles M. Adams | -West Lebanon, New York -Anoka & Minneapolis, Minnesota |
| Charles M. Adams (b.1866-d. unknown) | Unmarried or died Young | none | -Anoka, Minneapolis, & Hennepin, Minnesota -West Lebanon, New York |
| William DeRoy Chase (b.1922-d.2020) m. Helen | Married in 1943 | Anne E., Robert W., & Catherine J. | -Ann Arbor & Flint, Michigan -Washington, D.C. |
Provenance Information
Ownership Inscriptions & Marginalia Autographs:
Provenance:
Israel Adams (1706) & his wives, (1) Mercy Holdridge, (2) Tabitha “Tabby” Farnum, (3) Polly White:
Israel, son of Abraham and Hannah Adams, was born in 1706. Israel married thrice in the span of his life (1) in 1726 to Mercy Holdridge, (2) in 1736 to Tabitha “Tabby” Farnum, and (3) to Polly White. Israel and his partners originally moved to Keene, New Hampshire, then to Andover and Littleton, Massachusetts, and finally to Rindge, New Hampshire, where he died in 1789. Israel’s ownership of this copy is cemented with his autograph “Israel Adams 1774 Rindge, N.H.” that is found on pg. 486 of William Lilly’s book between two woodcut page breaks. The date “1774” and “Rindge, N.H.” line up with his life span being just 15 years before he died in 1789, and his location in Rindge, N.H. Israel and (1) Mercy Holdridge, according to the lineage put forth by John M. Adams, were the parents of Stephen Adams, who was born in 1728 in Rowley, Massachusetts, and is the owner of this book after Israel.
Tabitha “Tabby” Farnum:
Born to John and Elizabeth Farnum in Andover, Massachusetts in 1707. She married Israel Adams in 1732 in Andover, Massachusetts (lining up with the inscription on pg. 512), and together they had 5 sons and 2 daughters. One of their sons, Stephen Adams, autographed his name on the back endleaf pastedown and likely was given this book at some point . Tabitha lived until 1804 and died at 97 years old in Rindge, New Hampshire.
Stephen Adams (1728) & his wife, Susanna Dorman:
According to John M. Adams (great-grandson of Stephen), Stephen Adams was the son of Israel and Mercy Adams. Born in Rowley, Massachusetts, in 1727, Stephen married Susanna Dorman in 1760. Together they moved to Henniker, New Hampshire, and were reportedly amongst the first to arrive there after the town’s incorporation. Further and more crucial evidence of Stephen’s ownership of this copy is found on the back endleaf pastedown, inscribed “Stephen Adams 1761” which most likely is the date of his acquisition of the book from his father, Israel or from Tabitha. Stephen and his wife Susanna had 12 children; of the 12 children, only one relates to the provenance, Jacob Adams. The inscription of his name on the back free endleaf (Stephen 1727) and back endleaf pastedown (Stephen Adams 1761) are two pieces of evidence that he did, in fact, own this book for a span of time before passing it on to his children, specifically Jacob Adams, who is the next owner of this book based on the marks of ownership.
Jacob Adams (1751) & his wife, Lydia Hall:
Records from the American Ancestry Archive family tree and its full text provide sources that have Jacob Adams residing in Hancock, Massachusetts, with his wife, Lydia Hall Adams after their marriage in 1790. Jacob served in the Revolutionary Army and was present at the Battle of Bunker Hill, one of the bloodiest battles of the American Revolution. From that, it’d be fair to assume that Jacob’s purpose for owning this book was to possibly predict his fate during or after the Revolutionary War. For the time period, a book of horary astrology, made famous by William Lilly, would be a must-have if one were to seek answers regarding their fate/health in times of war. Jacob and Lydia would go on to have 5 children together, 3 boys and 2 girls, one of whom matches up with the next owner of this copy of William Lilly’s work, John Hall Adams.
John H. Adams (1796) & his wife, Abbey Everest:
Born in 1796, Hancock, Massachusetts, to Jacob and Lydia Hall Adams, John Hall Adams would marry Abigail Everest in 1830 at the age of 34. Evidence of John’s personal ownership of this copy can be found on the verso of the back free endleaf (written upside down) as well as on the recto of leaf A2 below William Lilly’s dedication to Bulstrod Whitlock, a member of the House of Commons in England in the 17th century. John H. Adams and Abbey would move to West Lebanon, New York, after spending time in Hancock and Richmond, Massachusetts. Together, they would have 3 children in all, 2 boys and 1 girl, one of the boys matching the provenance of this copy’s ownership, John Merriam Adams. I could find no information about John Hall’s life outside of death and marriage records, so it’s hard to assume his purpose for owning this book. Nonetheless, John Hall Adams died in 1884 in New Lebanon, New York, and presumably was responsible for giving it to his son, John M. Adams.
John Merriam Adams (1834) & his wife, Harriet Bigelow:
John Merriam Adams, grandson of Jacob and Lydia Adams, great-grandson of Stephen and Susanna Adams, was born in New Lebanon, New York, in 1834 as 1 of 3 children to John H. and Abbey Adams. John M. married in 1859 to Harriet Bigelow, and together they had 4 children, all of whom were boys according to sources used in the lineage found on Familysearch.org. Records provided in the full text of the American Ancestry Archive show that John fought in the American Civil War for the Union Army. As for his Based on the marriage record provided in the full-text archive, Harriet and John M. moved from West Lebanon, New York, to Anoka, Minnesota, before the birth of Charles Merriam Adams (their 3rd child) in 1866. Both U.S Federal census records and Charles’ birth record confirm their presence in Anoka between 1860 and 1870 before moving back to New Lebanon, where they’d spend 15 years living until John’s death in 1907. Of their 4 sons, Charles Merriam Adams matches the mark of ownership transcribed on the recto of the back free endleaf, solidifying the last member of the Adams Family to own this copy before it found its way to William DeRoy and Helen Chase’s collection and eventually Michigan State University. Three autographs, or ownership inscriptions, solidify John Merriam Adams’ possession of this copy; a stamp from the Philadelphia Public Herald to John M Adams on the front endleaf pastedown, West Lebanon, New York, his name transcribed on the verso of the back free endleaf , and the third mark on the recto of the back free endleaf that says “John M Adams 1885“.
Charles Merriam Adams (b.1866-d.unknown)
The final owner of this copy, and 1 of 4 sons to John M. and Harriet Adams, Charles Merriam Adams was born in 1866 in Anoka, Minnesota. Research into the Minnesota State Census 1875 and the U.S. Federal Census of 1870 and 1880, Charles was living in Minneapolis, Minnesota, in the year 1880, but no record of his death could be found or him living anywhere else after 1880. It is believed that his two older siblings died quite young, and only Charles and Frank S. Adams survived, with Frank going on to pass away in California in the early-to-mid 20th century. Based on the marks of ownership on the recto of the back free endleaf and the ownership inscriptions sharing similar caligraphy and ink, it’s fair to assume that Charles transcribed the names of his ancestors and their dates of birth to trace the lineage and ownership of this copy based on his knowledge of his family ancestry. The mark on the recto of the back free endleaf states he was able to trace the lineage and ownership “from copied fly leaves (now) destroyed” of which none survived into the present. For a period of 200 plus years, this copy-specific book, “Christian Astrology Modestly Treated in Three Books”-William Lilly was owned and passed down through the Adams family starting with Stephen Olney Adams (b.1620) and ending with Charles Merriam Adams (b.1866).
William DeRoy Chase (b.1922) and his wife, Helen Chase:
Born in Lakeview, Michigan, in 1922, William DeRoy Chase was an astute scholar of geography who earned a master’s and bachelor’s degree from the University of Michigan. Indicative of his intellect as a geographical scholar, William served in the Office of Strategic Services (OSS), precursor to the CIA, and the U.S. Air Force Aeronautical Chart Service during WWII as part of their Far East Division. During WWII, William married Helen in 1943, and in the same year, they started collecting books. What began as a modest private collection of Irish Playwright Bernard Shaw, along with personal correspondence with Shaw, soon evolved into a 50-year long expedition of collecting a wide range of books. Beyond their collections of books about books or books with fore-edge paintings, the significant focus of their collection was on almanacs, calendar customs, and items dealing with chronology through the ages. This focus on such categories of books may have been what led William to acquire “Christian Astrology Modestly Treated in Three Books” previously owned by the Adams family. William was also deeply involved with the library community here in Michigan, serving as the editorial director and member of the Special Libraries Association, as well as being a faculty member of the Newspaper Library Seminars at Columbia University (American Press Institute) and Southern Newspaper Publishers Association at the University of Texas. William’s illustrious career and the private collection curated by himself and his wife over the span of 50 years is a testament to his passion for knowledge and preservation of history. The image inserted above shows a mark of ownership for William, “W.D. Chase, NYC 6 April, 1981“, and is the only evidence of his ownership besides the fact that it was a part of the collection given to MSU by himself and his wife in 2016, the William D. and Helen M. Chase Collection. William’s mark of ownership on the front endleaf pastedown marks the last personal ownership before this copy-specific book was gifted to MSU where I was able to complete the Provenance under the guise of Andrew Lendon and Tad Boehmer as part of Dr. Brockeys HST-475 course.
Bibliography
–“A Genealogical History of Robert Adams, of Newbury, Mass., and His Descendants, 1635-1900 … Comp. And Ed. By Andrew N. Adams …” HathiTrust, 2024, babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uva.x000981529&seq=46&q1=John+H.+Adams. Accessed 2 Apr. 2026.
–“Adams Families 1582 – 1974.” Rootsweb.com, 2020, freepages.rootsweb.com/~dav4is/genealogy/ODTs/ADAMS.shtml#ADMS346. Accessed 2 Apr. 2026.
–“Ancestry Library Edition.” Ancestrylibrary.com, 2026, www.ancestrylibrary.com/search/collections/62282/records/4311179238?_gl=1. Accessed 2 Apr. 2026.
–Banta, Astrologer Rajesh. “Horary Class Notes.” Scribd, 2026, www.scribd.com/document/426659944/Horary-Class-Notes. Accessed 2 Apr. 2026.
–“FamilySearch.org.” Familysearch.org, 2019, www.familysearch.org/en/search/linker?ark=/ark:/61903/1:1:MKNN-69C&id=LZ82-18V. Accessed 2 Apr. 2026.
–“FamilySearch.org.” Familysearch.org, 2019, www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:Q2CV-D99C?lang=en. Accessed 2 Apr. 2026.
–Hugh. American Ancestry, US Archive, ia802903.us.archive.org/5/items/americanancestry002hugh/americanancestry002hugh.pdf. Accessed 21 Mar. 2026.
–“Introduction to Renaissance Horary Astrology Article.” Renaissanceastrology.com, 2026, www.renaissanceastrology.com/introductiontohoraryarticle.html. Accessed 2 Apr. 2026.
— Ancestry.com, 2021, www.ancestry.com/search/collections/7163/records/41645870?tid=&pid=&queryId=beb80ade-8d29-429a-91f4-bc0425a0be0b&_phsrc=Nlr1&_phstart=successSource. Accessed 2 Apr. 2026.
–United States. Bureau of the Census. 10th census, 1880 United States. Census Office. 10th census, 1880. “Minnesota. Census Records Indexes 1880.” United States. Bureau of the Census. 10th census, 1880 United States. Census Office. 10th census, 1880, 1880.
