Marsilio Ficino, born in Florence in 1433, was one of the greatest exemplars of
the Renaissance as a rebirth of classical learning. Ficino was the leader of the
Florentine Platonic Academy and translator of many neo-Platonic and Hermetic works,
including at the urging of Cosimo de Medici, the Corpus Hermeticum.
Three Books on Life is not a translation, but an original work by Ficino written
for the benefit of scholars and intellectuals, who being under the dominion of
Saturn and Mercury, suffer melancholy and related health concerns.

The third book, is however, the most interesting as it details Ficino's world
view and gives his methods of astrological magic. Ficino, a priest and devout
Christian, saw no real contradiction between the teachings of ancient philosophy
and Christianity. He therefore felt free to use astrological magic particularly
for healing and other medicinal purposes.

What is most significant about Three Books on Life is Ficino's ability to provide
a theoretical framework for astrology and magic as well as practical examples of
how to practice astrological magic.

Kaske and Clarke have done an excellent job in the MRTS edition of Three Books
on Life. Their introduction is good, despite a few errors only noticeable to an
expert on traditional astrology and the text with the Latin original facing the
English translation is quite useable. This translation is much better than the
Charles Boer's edition.

For those interested in Neo-platonic and Hermetic thought, astrology and magic
in the Renaissance this is an essential primary source.

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