1-633-005 - Historica Graphica Collection/Heritage Images

William Lilly, English astrologer, 1647 (late 19th century). Lilly (1602-1681) aroused controversy in 1666 for having supposedly predicted the Great Fire of London 14 yaers before it happened. He was actually tried for allegedly having started the fire himself but was found innocent of the charge. Lilly was the model for 'Sidrophel' in Samuel Butler's satire Hudibras. Portrait from Lilly's best known book, Christian Astrology, (London 1647), illustrated in History of Magic', late 19th century.