De imaginibus Veneris
Preserved from WPerrone Compagni — Table of Comparison
1533 edition (2:42): W, 2: 10
This chapter, De imaginibus Veneris, 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 closely to W 2:10 in the Würzburg draft and appears to be substantially preserved in the 1533 edition. The direct correspondence shows that Agrippa regarded this material as settled relatively early and did not feel compelled to revise it significantly.
The stability of this chapter across the manuscript and printed versions suggests it belongs to the secure core of Agrippa's natural-magical argument as it was constituted by 1510. Such chapters allow scholars to reconstruct the intellectual foundation on which the more elaborate structures of the 1533 edition were built.
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.