Antiquarianism, Astrology and the Press in William Lilly's Network

This essay analyses the political, intellectual and social contexts in which the most renown astrologer in seventeenth-century England managed to rise from obscurity to stardom. It does so by paying attention to William Lilly's network of friends, acquaintances, and, above all, strangers. Lilly lured scores of the latter into supplying him with information about celestial observations which he published in his astrological works, thereby exploiting the press in order to procure glimpses of fame for the obscure, and massive resonance for his own role within the London scene, then proliferating with amateur natural philosophers such as himself. This essay, therefore, connects the uses of the press with network studies in order to shed new light onto a central figure of mid-seventeenth century England which has either received attention only with regards to the content of his works, not for the savvy ways in which he gathered the data to publish them.