Agamben and the Signature of Astrology Agamben and the Signature of Astrology Spheres of Potentiality Paul Colilli LEXINGTONBOOKS Lanham•Boulder•NewYork•London PublishedbyLexingtonBooks AnimprintofTheRowman&LittlefieldPublishingGroup,Inc. 4501ForbesBoulevard,Suite200,Lanham,Maryland20706 www.rowman.com UnitA,WhitacreMews,26-34StannaryStreet,LondonSE114AB Copyright©2015byLexingtonBooks Allrightsreserved.Nopartofthisbookmaybereproducedinanyformorbyany electronicormechanicalmeans,includinginformationstorageandretrievalsystems, withoutwrittenpermissionfromthepublisher,exceptbyareviewerwhomayquote passagesinareview. BritishLibraryCataloguinginPublicationInformationAvailable LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationData Colilli,Paul,1952- Agambenandthesignatureofastrology:spheresofpotentiality/PaulColilli. p.cm. Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex. ISBN978-1-4985-0595-6(cloth:alk.paper)--ISBN978-1-4985-0596-3(ebook) 1.Agamben,Giorgio,1942-2.Astrology.I.Title. B3611.A44C652015 195--dc23 2015027563 TMThepaperusedinthispublicationmeetstheminimumrequirementsofAmerican NationalStandardforInformationSciencesPermanenceofPaperforPrintedLibrary Materials,ANSI/NISOZ39.48-1992. PrintedintheUnitedStatesofAmerica Contents ListofFigures vii Acknowledgments ix Introduction xi 1 ConstellationsofUnwrittenLife 1 Scholium:AstrologyandthePhilosophyofHistory 33 2 InterstellarArchaeology 49 3 ATheoryofUnwrittenTexts 83 4 SpheresofPotentiality 131 5 Warburg’sGesture 165 Coda 197 References 201 Index 209 AbouttheAuthor 215 v List of Figures Fig.1.1 AmbrosianaJewishBible,Inv.B32inf.,folio 135v(Paralipomena,parchmentmanuscript from1201–1300).VenerandaBiblioteca Ambrosiana,Milan. 5 Fig.1.2 AmbrosianaJewishBible,Inv.B32inf.,folio 136r(Paralipomena,parchmentmanuscript from1201–1300).VenerandaBiblioteca Ambrosiana,Milan. 6 vii