Art of Memory
Saunders wrote almanacs and practised medicine in the circle of an astrologer. He added this section to a big book on palm reading, translated from a French writer.
what it teaches
The art is built on ten letters, A to K, written on the hand. A sits in the middle of the palm, B under the thumb, C to E on the fingers, and the rest at points on the palm and wrist.
To think about any subject, put it on A and put its definition and parts on the other letters.
Each letter is a question: to know my? who? of what? why? how much? what kind? when? where? how? Each has attached ideas such as God, Angel, Heaven, Man, Wisdom, Virtue, Truth, Glory.
The system comes from Ramon Llull, who tried to compress all the sciences into a few principles. Saunders claims a child of seven could be fit for all of them in ten days.
Practice: learn the letters forwards and backwards, then in groups of three. A preacher can put Bible stories on the letters; a merchant can put his business on A.