De occulta philosophia — 1510 / 1533 Comparison

Agrippa von Nettesheim · Würzburg draft (W) vs. Cologne edition (K)
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Book II — Mathematical Magic — Chapter 23

Of Geometrical Figures and Bodies and Their Virtues

Revised & Expanded

Perrone Compagni — Table of Comparison

1533 edition (2:23): W, 2: 30 + a passage from W, 2: 18 + additions

This chapter, 2:23 (“Of Geometrical Figures and Bodies and Their Virtues”), occupies a significant place in Agrippa's systematic exposition of occult philosophy. In the 1533 Cologne printed edition (De occulta philosophia libri tres, sigla K in Perrone Compagni's critical apparatus), the text represents Agrippa's mature formulation of the ideas it addresses, the product of over two decades of reading, travel, and revision since the composition of the Würzburg draft.

This chapter corresponds to W 2:30, W 2:18 in the Würzburg draft, with shorter additions in the 1533 text. The core argument is preserved from W, but Agrippa refined it with supplementary passages, qualifying or extending particular points.

The extent of revision in this chapter illustrates the dynamic character of Agrippa's rewriting process. Rather than simply updating facts, he appears to have substantially reconfigured the argument. Comparison with the partial edition A — which represents an intermediate stage — may reveal whether the additions were introduced gradually or in a single later revision.

Scholarly Perspectives

Book II is described by Lehrich (2003) as 'Mathematical Magic' — the celestial level of the ascending programme, in which Pythagorean and Neoplatonic number theory reveals the proportional structures that organise the cosmos. The transition from Book I's elemental correspondences to Book II's mathematical ones marks a shift from observation of particular things to understanding of universal principles. Miles (2008) notes the paradox: Book II's elaborate systems of sacred names and numerical characters appear to endorse a 'natural language' theory of magical power, but this reading is complicated by the deeper qualifications Agrippa introduces in Book III.