William Lilly wrote his own life story in 1668, in his sixty-sixth year, as a letter to his friend and fellow antiquarian Elias Ashmole, and it was published from the manuscript only in 1715, after both men had died. It is the primary source for the best documented episode of Lilly's career: his summons before a House of Commons committee on 25 October 1666, weeks after the Great Fire of London, to explain hieroglyphic images he had published in 1651 that were by then being read as having predicted it. Lilly records that he admitted making the images but denied having known in advance what dates they concerned, and that the committee released him. As Lilly's own retrospective account of his own defence it is a firsthand record and, for the same reason, not an independent one; it is read here alongside Ann Geneva's modern scholarly study rather than in place of it.
Facts
Citation
AuthorWilliam Lilly
PublisherJ. Roberts, London
Publication Year1715
Written by Lilly himself in 1668, in his own sixty-sixth year, addressed to his friend Elias Ashmole; published from the manuscript only in 1715, after Lilly's and Ashmole's deaths. Source TypeBook (memoir)
Assessment
Reliability Tier2
Lilly's own account of his own interrogation and of the predictions he was interrogated over; a primary firsthand source and, precisely because it is his own defence of himself, not an independent check on it. NotesLilly's own record of his 25 October 1666 appearance before the Commons committee investigating the Great Fire, where he stated he had made the 1651 hieroglyphs but had not known the dates they would be read against.
Connections
Associated With
London, Cities This source names London directly: "1666, weeks after the Great Fire of London, to explain hieroglyphic images he had published in 1651 that were by then being read as having predicted it."
Source Mr. William Lilly's History of His Life and Times, From the Year 1602, to 1681William Lilly
Claims Backed By This Source (11 claims)
This source backs 11 claims across the atlas. As facts: 9 well-attested. As cited relationships: 1 holds. Plus 1 entities citing it as a general reference with no single fact or relationship attached.
Disposition By Topic
- Sources, 8 claims: 7 well-attested, 1 holds.
- Prophecies, 3 claims: 2 well-attested, 1 general references.
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