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[SCIENCE AND MEDICINE] - A Dire Horoscope for the Elector of Saxony (1562) - A Horoscope for the Elector of Saxony with catastrophic and dire events predicted for 1562, in German, manuscript on single sheet of paper [Germany (probably Saxony), c. 1562] Single leaf, with single column of 23 lines of a scrawling vernacular hand, with day of month at far left followed by name of month and brief description of prediction, not apparently ever bound into a volume, chain-lines but no watermarks, modern pencil '1562' at head, some spots, stains and folds, else excellent condition, 295 by 205mm. The text here opens ”Diss nachfolgentt ist auff dhas 62 Jar von des Churfusten zu Sachsenn Astronimo gepronosticirett”, evidently August von Sachsen (1526-86), who held the electorship from 1553, and was married to Anna, the daughter of Christian III of Denmark. The sixteenth century saw a rapid growth in German noble interest in horoscopes and the prediction and charting of fantastical events, with its heights reached in the various Wunderzeichenbuch produced. This leaf records thirteen fatal events for 1562, including the ”Dreyer Fürsten Absterben” (death of three princes), ”ein halb Sintflutt” (a great flood) and ”onglückliche Hitzt und Heuschrecken” (heatwave and plague of locusts).