Weiser Antiquarian Books Catalog # 11.
A Holiday Miscellany.
IMPORTANT. Please note that this is an out-of-date catalog and is stored here for interest's sake only. A numberof the books listed have already sold, although they have not been marked as such. Those that are still available will also be listed on our website, or you can inquire direct by email
Welcome to this, the eleventh of our on-line catalogs: the 'Holiday Miscellany.' The catalog is divided into three main parts: the first part comprises a small selection of fine new books, some of which are limited editions, and some of which are signed by their authors. The second part is the 'miscellany,' and includes choice secondhand and rare books from a number of the different subject areas in which we specialize (a brief outline of some of the books follows). In keeping with the season, the third part comprises a few works on Christmas and Hanukkah, including a rather gory Victorian illustrated nursery book: certainly not one for the squeamish child!
The 'miscellany' section includes a number of interesting signed and inscribed books by authors such as Evangeline Adams, Emma Curtis Hopkins, Godfre Ray King, George Frederick Kunz, Sir Oliver Lodge, Max Freedom Long, A. E. Waite as well as works from the libraries of Eric J. Dingwall, & W. B. Crow. Antiquarian works include William Law's monumental 4 Volume Works of Jacob Behmen (1764-81), Faber's 3 volume, The Origin of Pagan Idolatry (1816), and Forlong's, Rivers Of Life (2 Volumes plus chart in separate slipcase, 1883), a work that was highly recommended by Aleister Crowley. Also of antiquarian interest are Stanley's, The History of Philosophy with an appended History of the Chaldaick Philosophy (1701), the first significant translation into English of the 'Chaldean Oracles', and More's Conjectura Cabbalistic, and Defence of the Threefold Cabbala, two unusual early English-language works on the Kabbalah, both of which are included in a handsome edition of his Collection Of Several Philosophical Writings (1712-1713).
The subject of astrology is well represented by works as diverse as Manzolli's Zodiacus Vitae (1576), Evangeline Adams, Astrology Your Place Among the Stars (1931 - inscribed copy), Roback's, The Mysteries Of Astrology And The Wonders Of Magic (1854), Raphael's The Familiar Astrologer (1849) and a handsome modern facsimile of William Lilly's Christian Astrology.
On a more eccentric note there are works such as Tebb's Premature Burial and How it May Be Prevented (1905), with it's illustrations of a bizarre semaphore like device by which the not-dead-but-buried can communicate with the living, Claridge's Cold Water, Tepid Water and Friction-Cure (1849), which prescribes water - in some form or another - as a cure for just about every ailment, and Warren's Paradise Found (1886), which locates the Biblical Eden in the vicinity of the North Pole.
Also offered are the leather-bound First Edition (limited to 666 copies) of The Necronomicon, Thorndike's 8 Volume History of Magic & Experimental Science, and some classic works of travel and exploration: Layard's, Early Adventures in Persia, Susiana, and Babylonia... (1887), Bonvalot's Through the Heart of Asia, Over the Pamir to India, 2 Volumes, (1889), and Borrow's The Bible in Spain; or, the Journeys, Adventures, and Imprisonments of an Englishman..., 3 Volumes (1843).
Other books not mentioned above are from the categories of Alternative Medicine, Apparitions, Folk-Lore, Magic, Freemasonry, Divination, Witchcraft, Spiritualism, the Goddess, Mesmerism, Tarot, Travel, Mythology, Prophecy, Prognostication, Druidry, Shamanism, Stonehenge, and others. Many of the books are genuinely rare, and sometimes have rather interesting and quirky histories: we recommend that you take some time to browse through the listings at your leisure.
Future catalogs will focus on Alchemy, Ancient Egypt, John Dee, Witchcraft, Mythology, Theosophy, and other of our specialties, and of course there will be more Aleister Crowley.
Further details about this catalog, and how to purchase books from it, can be found at the end of the listings.
For other books you can also always visit our website: http://www.weiserantiquarian.com where we currently have over 13,000 books listed, with new stock added weekly.
Last, but by no means least, we would like to take this opportunity to thank all our customers, colleagues, and friends for your kindness and support during 2006, and to send to you our very best wishes for the Festive Season and the coming New Year.
Contents of this catalog:
a) A Few Select New Books.
b) A Miscellany of Secondhand & Rare Books.
c) A Few Books on Christmas & one on Hanukkah.
d) About this catalog & how to purchase from it.
Damigeron; Translated by Patricia Tahil & Edited by Joel Radcliffe. The Virtues of Stones, (De Virtutibus Lapidum). Seattle, WA: Ars Obscura Press, 2005. First Edition Thus. Hardcover. 8vo. xvi + 94 pp. Full leather binding in teal kidskin with leather headbands and black silk ribbon, sewn marble endpapers, hand deckled bottom edge, gilt title/author on the spine. Blind stamped and gilt decorations to boards. Cloth bound slipcase lined with matching marble papers. Edition Limited to 250 hand-numbered copies. Supposedly compiled in Second Century B.C. Arabia, the work is here presented in translation from an edition in Latin and Greek, and also reproduces the original texts. According to the publishers "The luster from the blend of historical curiosity and the power of stones create a unique tone and brilliant insight into the diverse magickal/ritual and healing uses of gemstones. Fifty gemstones are mentioned. In the history of lapidaries, De Virtutibus Lapidum, by the Mage Damigeron represents one of our deepest roots of an ancient source of the base for our contemporary literature and knowledge on the magickal lore of gemstones. This is possibly the oldest in the West and Near East." New book. Fine in Fine slipcase. (31957) Please check our website for current availability
Kenneth and Steffi Grant, Hidden Lore. Hermetic Glyphs. London: Fulgur Ltd., 2006. 'Isis Edition:' First Edition thus. Hardcover. 4to. 74pp. Blue cloth, gilt titling to spine and device to upper board, color frontis, index. Printed throughout in magnificent full color. Edition limited to 777 hand-numbered copies. A beautifully produced reissue of the works first published as the Carfax Monographs, but with additional previously unpublished material including a new essay by Steffi Grant titled "Further Considerations: A Brief Resume of the Beliefs of the Various Phases of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn," artwork of the four pages of the 'Enochian Tablets of John Dee,' and other fresh and revised material. NEW book. Fine in fine dust jacket and cardboard slipcase. (31930) Please check our website for current availability
Manly P. Hall, [The Secret Teachings of All Ages] An Encyclopedic Outline of Masonic, Hermetic, Qabbalistic and Rosicrucian Symbolical Philosophy, Being an Interpretation of the Secret Teachings concealed within the Rituals, Allegories and Mysteries of All Ages. Los Angeles, CA: Philosophical Research Society, 2000. Reprint. Hardcover, 4to, vi + 246 pp. Blue cloth with gilt titling to spine and upper board. A color reprint edition of Hall's massive work, best known by its shortened title 'The Secret Teachings of All Ages.' This edition includes fifty-four full-page color plates by J. Augustus Knapp, and approx. two hundred black and white illustrations taken from rare occult works. It remains one of the most famous - and impressive - books in the Western esoteric canon. No dustjacket (none issued). NEW book. Fine condition. (31948) Please check our website for current availability
Stephen Skinner, The Complete Magician's Tables. Singapore: Golden Hoard Press, 2006. First Edition, Hardcover. large 8vo. (10.25" x 7.25"). 432pp. Import. Brown cloth with gilt title etc. to spine, and title on front cover, marbled endpapers, b&w illustrations, charts & tables, Commentary and bibliography. Signed by the author on the half title page. The Complete Magician's Tables, comprises a detailed series of tabular correspondences covering Magic, Astrology, Divination, Alchemy, Tarot, I Ching, Kabbalah, Gematria, Grimoires, Angels, Demons, Pagan pantheons, Plants, Perfumes, Incenses, and Religious & Mystical correspondences. A massive work, it contains more than four times the number of tables found in Aleister Crowley's Liber 777, and it is quite simply unique in its scope. The data in these tables is drawn from a staggering variety of sources - ranging from unpublished mediaeval grimoires and Kabbalistic texts, through the works of Peter de Abano, Abbott Trithemius, Albertus Magnus, Henry Cornelius Agrippa, Dr John Dee, Dr Thomas Rudd, Tycho Brahe, MacGregor Mathers, Aleister Crowley, Israel Regardie and Franz Bardon, to the most modern theories of prime numbers and atomic weights. This is the First trade Edition (published in Singapore) - a new US edition is now under preparation. A few copies only in stock. NEW book thus Fine in Fine dust jacket. (31972) Please check our website for current availability
R. Campbell Thompson, Semitic Magic. Its Origins and Development. York Beach, ME: Samuel Weiser Inc., 2000. Reprint. Hardcover, 8vo, lviii + 286 pp, Original light brown cloth with black title, etc. to spine. Semitic Magic is a study of the magical practices - the spells, rituals, and incantations - of ancient Western Asia, the birthplace of Western civilization.' Chapters on The Demons and Ghosts, Demoniac Possession and Tabu, Sympathetic Magic, The Atonement Sacrifice, & The Redemption of the Firstborn. An authoratitive study: Thompson (1876-1941) worked variously in the Department of Egyptian and Assyrian Antiquities in the British Museum, spent nearly a quarter century excavating on their behalf in the Middle East, and later was a Professor of Semitic Languages at Chicago. Fine in Fine dust jacket. (14235)Please check our website for current availability
James Wasserman, An Illustrated History of the Knights Templar. Rochester, VT: Destiny Books, 2006. First Edition. Softcover, 4to, 192pp. Printed card covers, generously illustrated with 175 color illustrations. Signed by the author on the half title page. "A fascinating history of the Order and the many mysteries and legends that surround it. Wasserman presents the evidence for the Templar connection to mystical Islamic organizations such as the Assassins as well as their ties to “heretical” groups such as the Cathars, who were targeted by a crusade in southern France to expunge the challenge they presented to the orthodoxy of their time. In addition to providing an overview of the Templars’ actions during the Crusades, Wasserman revisits the trial and the charges leveled against them, showing how the Order was ruthlessly crushed. ......" Fine condition. (31956) Please check our website for current availability
b) A Miscellany of Secondhand & Rare Books.
Evangeline Adams, Astrology Your Place Among the Stars. With One Hundred Horoscopes of Famous People. New York, NY: Dodd, Mead, & Company, 1931. Fourth Printing. Hardcover. large 8vo. xiv + 528 pp. Original bright blue cloth with gilt title and author to spine and front cover, b&w illustrations and charts. Inscribed by Evangeline Adams on the front endpaper: "Best of wishes, Evangeline Adams" (the words 'To Edna' added in a different but contemporary hand below.) Evangeline Adams (1868-1932) was America's best known astrologer, although thanks to the researches of Hymenaeus Beta it has now been conclusively established that this, and her book 'Astrology, Your Place in the Sun,' were for the most part ghost-written by Aleister Crowley. Spine darkened with titling barely legible, edges bumped, extremities rubbed with a bit of light fraying at spine ends, slightly shaken but quite sound, endpapers and page edges a bit browned, but still bright and unmarked inside. Overall near VG without dust jacket. (4040) Please check our website for current availability
Anonymous. New Lights from the World of Darkness. Or the Midnight Messenger; ... Containing Wonderful Evidences of the Visit of Ghosts, Apparitions, etc. .... The Whole Forming a Constellation of Horror!!! Dreams, Horrid Tales, and Spells of Mighty Power: Demons and Ghosts, that rove at Midnight Hour. London, Ann Lemoine, White-Rose Court, 1802. Hardcover, small 8vo, 48pp. Recently rebound in quarter green leather and pale green cloth boards, gilt title on spine, fresh endpapers. Frontis. A delightful collection of short accounts of ghosts, hauntings, etc., obviously meant to entertain and terrify the reader. Title page evenly browned, bit of light foxing to early pages, otherwise sound and unmarked. Better than VG. A genuinely scarce work. (16874) Please check our website for current availability
W. Gurney Benham, Playing Cards. The History of the Pack and Explanations of its Many Secrets. London, Ward, Locke & Co., Limited, 1931. First Edition. Hardcover, sm4to, viii + 196pp. Original olive green cloth, gilt title, etc. to spine and front cover, black playing card illustration on upper board. 242 b&w and color illustrations, index to text and illustrations. An anecdotal history, chiefly devoted to playing cards, though with a chapter on the Tarot. Light rubbing to all edges, spine ends bruised with a tiny nick to cloth at mid-spine, corners bumped, lower corners chafed, endpapers lightly browned, otherwise bright and unmarked inside. Overall a sound VG+ copy. (10891) Please check our website for current availability
C. G. Berger, M.D., Our Phallic Heritage. New York, NY: Greenwich Book Publishers, 1966. First Edition. Hardcover, 8vo. 216pp. Original light grey cloth with black title etc to spine, b&w illustrations. An unusual 'modern' study of phallic worship across history, religions and cultures. Corners rubbed, rear board lightly discolored at edge, page edges lightly thumbed, otherwise a sound and unmarked VG+ copy in VG dust jacket (Dust jacket lightly chafed at edges, rear panel a bit browned, not price clipped). Scarce. (31954)Please check our website for current availability
[Jakob Böhme] Jacob Behmen, The Works of Jacob Behmen, The Teutonic Theosopher...with Figures, illustrating his Principles, left by the Reverend William Law, .... (4 Volume Set). London: M. Richardson, Joseph Richardson, G. Robinson, 1764-81. First Edition. Hardcovers. 4 Vols. Large Quartos (11" x 9"), Vol. I; [ii] xxiv, [iv] 270, [vi], 302, [xx], [ii] [+ plates] Vol. II; [viii], 196, [xxxiv], [11], 120, 160, 32; [+ plates] Vol. III; [iv], 508, [xxvi], Vol. IV; [ii] 298, 218, [viii] pp. Modern half leather, with marbled paper boards. Gilt stamped leather title labels to spine, marbled endpapers. Woodcut initials, head and tail pieces, tables in text. Engraved frontispiece portrait of Boehme & 25 copper engraved plates, 2 of which are hand-colored, two foldout (including one of the hand colored plates), and 4 of which (including the other foldout) have overslips. NB the 3 non-folding plates with overslips are supplied in well-crafted modern facsimile, all other plates are original.
The first complete Collected Edition of the works of Boehme in English. Jacob Boehme (1575-1624) underwent a variety of mystical experiences in his youth, including a vision in 1600 (the year in which Giordano Bruno was immolated) in which he felt the spiritual structure of the world was laid open before him, and the relationship between good and evil explained. Although he was accused of heresy much of his world view was not out of step with Lutheran theology of the time, for he believed that encouraged by fallen angels, humanity had fallen from grace to a state of sin, and that it was God's will to restore it. Boehme had a third vision when he was thirty-five in which "Nature opened wide the portals of her secret chambers and laid bare before his gaze the treasures hidden in the very depths of her pure virgin bosom," which inspired his study 'The Three Principles of Divine Essence.'
Whilst a mystic above all, Boehme was been influenced by Neoplatonist thought and the writings on spiritual transmutation of alchemical authors such as Paracelsus, with Dame France Yates observing that he "aimed at refreshing with Paracelsus-inspired alchemical philosophy the deadness and dryness of contemporary Lutheran piety." He in turn inspired and influenced later mystical groups such as the Rosicrucians and the Theosophists, who held him to be one of their spiritual forbears, with Mme. Blavastky speaking highly of him and his work. William Law (1686-1761) was Boehme's chief English proponent, who went so far as to learn German so that he could read the mystics' works in the original language.
There is a delightful and beautifully penned contemporary owner's notice on the front free end paper of the first volume which reads: "How the Author is to be Read with Profit, What Recommended First and with what CAUTION, is Solidly Answered by Wm. LAW in his Way to Divine Knowledge from Page 238 - 243 inclusive." Some old damp browning throughout Vol. I - though the pages remain supple - a little contemporary marginalia. There is a one inch square section missing from top corner of advertisement leaf of Vol. II (no loss to text), a few neat astrological annotations on plate facing p. 94, and some pencil underlining throughout. Vol. III, has contemporary annotations on the title page and scattered throughout the book (mostly in the margins), as well as some old ink underlining on a few dozen pages, and some light foxing. The three single page plates with overslips are in facsimile, all other plates present and in good order (some small tears to the folds as always). The title page of Vol. IV is chipped at the bottom, without loss of text, and there are a number of thumbprint-sized small old library blind stamps throughout. There are also a few similarly sized ink-stamps, mostly to the margins of the preliminaries. Fragment of a later related publisher's prospectus bound into Vol. III. A nice set of one of the true classics of mysticism. (31981) Please check our website for current availability
Caro Radcliffe Bolon, Forms of the Goddess Lajja Gauri in Indian Art. University Park, PA: Pennsylvania State University Press / College Art Association, 1992. First Edition. Hardcover, 4to. xiv + 92pp. + 70pp. b/w plates. Original beige cloth with gilt titling etc to spine. Biblio & index. Frontis. Map. A scholarly study of the iconography of the Indian Goddess Lajja Gauri - variously referred to as "the shameless woman," the "nude squatting goddess," the "mother goddess" and by over two dozen different Sanskrit or Hindi appellations. The author posits that Lajja Gauri started as a tribal deity, who in the last few centuries has been adopted by some into the Hindu pantheon. Generously illustrated in b& w. Fine in fine dust jacket. (28111) Please check our website for current availability
Frederick Bligh Bond, The Hill of Vision. Boston, MA: Marshall Jones Company, 1919. First US Edition. Hardcover, 8vo, xxvi + 134pp. Original grey papered boards, green title and embellishments to spine and front cover. As the subtitle has it: a "Forecast of the Great War and of Social Revolution with the Coming of the New Race. Gathered from Automatic Writings Obtained between 1909 and 1912, and also, in 1918, through the hand of John Alleyne, under the supervision of the author Frederick Bligh Bond." Bond (1864-1945), was an archaeologist, architect, medium and psychical researcher, who is most widely remembered for his excavations of Glastonbury Abbey, and his related book, The Gate of Remembrance. Spine and edges of boards a bit darkened and discolored, very light chipping at spine ends and corners, page edges lightly foxed, otherwise a sound and bright VG + copy. (31983) Please check our website for current availability
Gabriel Bonvalot, (Translated by C. B. Pitman). Through the Heart of Asia, Over the Pamir to India (2 Volumes). London: Chapman and Hall, 1889. First Edition. Hardcovers. Two volumes. sm 4to. xxii+ 282pp & x + 256pp. [ color fold-out map at rear ]. Handsome early 20th century half leather with marbled boards, gilt titling and decoration to spine, all edges gilt, fresh endpapers, title page vignette, 250 black and white text illustrations by Albert Pepin, index. The classic account by Pierre Gabriel Édouard Bonvalot (1853-1933), of his travels through the Caucusus, Persia, Afghanistan and Turkestan, into what is modern-day Pakistan. Light rubbing and wear to corners, boards lightly chafed at fore-edge, discreet stamp of American Musuem of Natural History on verso of title page of Vol. I, no other markings, text bright and unmarked. Overall a sound and attractive VG+ set. (31974) Please check our website for current availability
George Borrow, The Bible in Spain; or, the Journeys, Adventures, and Imprisonments of an Englishman in an Attempt to Circulate the Scriptures in the Peninsula ( 3 Volumes ). London, England: John Murray, 1843. Second edition. Hardcover, three volumes, small 8vo. xxiv + 370pp & viii + 398pp & viii + 392pp, Half leather w/ marbled boards, leather spine labels with gilt titling, gilt embellishments to spine, marbled endpapers. Borrow's account of his extensive travels through Spain in the late 1830s, with much material on local folklore and custom, and of course the Gypsies, with whom he developed a considerable affinity. Light rubbing and bumping to edges and corners, spine lightly chafed, otherwise an attractive and sound VG+ set. (31967) Please check our website for current availability
Tone Bringa, Being Muslim the Bosnian Way. Identity and Community in a Central Bosnian Village. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1995. First Edition. Hardcover, 8vo, xxi, 282pp. A serious anthropological study - uncommon in hardcover. Original black cloth with gilt titling to spine, maps, b&w illustrations, glossary, bibliography, index. Fine condition. (no dustjacket). (29677) Please check our website for current availability
The Countess of Caithness, Old Truths in a New Light. Or, An Earnest Endeavour to Reconcile Material Science with Spiritual Science, and with Scripture. London, Chapman and Hall, 1876. First edition. Hardcover, 8vo, xvi + 460 pp, Original decorated blue cloth with gilt title, etc. to spine, black rules, gilt device to upper boards. An unusual work on Spiritualism and Christian-orientated esotericism. The author, the Countess of Caithness, was well known in Spiritualist and Theosophical circles. In addition to hosting séances, she had many more corporeal luminaries as her house guests, including H. P. Blavatsky, and she became the friend and financial backer of Anna Kingsford. Cloth a bit darkened and chafed, boards bumped and rubbed at edges and corners with some light fraying, spine lightly frayed at ends with a two inch split at lower edge of both hinges, but hinges holding nicely and contents bright and unmarked save for a few light pencil marks here and there (easily erased). A servicable near VG copy of a scarce volume. (17630) Please check our website for current availability
Captain R. T. Claridge, The Cold Water, Tepid Water and Friction-Cure. As Applicable to Every Disease to Which the Human Frame is Subject... New York, John Wiley, 1849. First Edition. Hardcover, 8vo, x + 214 pp. Recent brown cloth with black leather gilt stamped spine label. Fresh endpapers. Index. Water as the universal panacea for all ailments of man and beast. The Captain offers a remarkable variety of cures, all of which involve water, be it be imbibed, stood or sat in, poured upon, splashed on, or soaked with. Light damp stain to upper corner of early pages (it just had to be ...) , a bit of scattered spotting to pages and a very few light pencil marks, otherwise a clean VG copy in VG+ modern binding. (18666) Please check our website for current availability
Jean and David Clottes, & Lewis-Williams. The Shamans of Prehistory: Trance and Magic in the Painted Caves. New York, NY: Harry N. Abrams, 1998. First American Edition. Hardcover, 4to, 120pp. Light grey cloth, profusely illustrated with 116 illustrations, including 90 photographs in full color, biblio and index. A beautifully illustrated discussion of paleolithic cave painting, and its shamanistic meaning. Still in publisher's shrinkwrap. Fine in fine dust jacket. (31955) Please check our website for current availability
Howard Leslie Cornell, Encyclopaedia of Medical Astrology. Los Angeles: Cornell Publishing Co., 1933. First edition. Hardcover, large 8vo, 958 pp, Original textured brown cloth with gilt title, etc. to spine and front cover, frontis photo of author. Light chafing to corners and spine ends, gilt print slightly faded, paper lightly browned, previous owner's name, faint blue pencil marks on just a few pages - otherwise a sound and unmarked better than VG copy. (10052) Please check our website for current availability
Eugene Crowell, The Identity of Primitive Christianity and Modern Spiritualism (Two Volumes). New York, G. W. Carleton & Co./ Two Worlds, 1874 & 1881. Mixed set: Vol. I First Edition, Vol. II Second Edition). Hardcovers, large 8vo, xiv+ 524pp + 2pp of adverts & xii+ 528pp. Original brown cloth, gilt title, etc. to spine and front cover, blind rules, index. A substantial work in which the author seeks to prove his claim for the "unity of the higher teachings of Modern Spiritualism with those of early Christianity .. " Second blank leaf of first volume a little loose, light chafing to edges and spine ends, corners bumped, a very few stray pencil marks (easily erased). Despite this being a "mixed set", the volumes match nicely in color and size. Overall better than VG. (18387)Please check our website for current availability
Edward Davies, Celtic Researches. On The Origin, Traditions & Language, Of The Ancient Britons; With Some Introductory Sketches On Primitive Society. London: Published By The Author, 1804. First edition. Hardcover, large 8vo, lxxiv + 562 pp. Later (early twentieth century?) quarter cloth binding, ivory color buckram spine with grey papered boards. Two engraved plates. Much on the ancient language of the Celts, including several chapters devoted to the 'Druidical Letters' (runes) with two engraved plates with reproductions of runes. Spine a little darkened, corners rubbed, lower corner of page 471 chipped with no loss of text, minimal foxing on a few pages, a few scattered pencil notes and underlining which could be erased with a little patience. Overall VG. (1900) Please check our website for current availability
Eric. J. Dingwall, (Editor). Abnormal Hypnotic Phenomena. A Survey of Nineteenth-Century Cases. Volume I: France, Volume II: Belgium, The Netherlands, Germany, and Scandinavia. (2 Volumes) New York, NY: Barnes and Noble Books, 1967. First edition. Hardcover, large 8vo, viii + 328pp & viii + 256pp. Original green cloth, silver titles, etc. to spines, b&w illustrations, indexes. Chronicles the paranormal and psychical phenomena said to have been experienced by people in mesmeric and hypnotic states, the accounts of which have often been omitted from other histories and studies of the subject. Light rubbing to edges, spine of volume I lightly discolored, otherwise a sound and unmarked set in VG dust jackets. (Dust jackets lightly chafed and edgeworn). (23844)Please check our website for current availability
[E. J. Dingwall Association copy]. M. le baron Du Potet, Manuel de L'étudiant Magnétiseur Ou Nouvelle Instruction Pratique sur le Magnétisme, Fondée sur 30 Années D'expériences et D'Observation. Paris: Germer Bailliére, 1850. Second édition, corrigée et trés augmentée. Hardcover, 8vo. x + 420pp, Contemporary quarter leather w/ black cloth boards, gilt title, etc. to spine, raised bands, contemporary owner's initials surmounted by a coronet neatly gilt stamped to upper board, speckled page edges, b&w illustrations, red ribbon book markers, appendices, glossary. With the ownership signature of E. J. Dingwall (1890-1986), a one-time Keeper of Books at the British Library, author, and psychical researcher. Dingwall is perhaps best remembered for his history of the chastity belt, A French-language work on Magnetism, Mesmerism, Hypnosis etc. The Girdle of Chastity, but he also wrote on Mesmerism and kindred fields in works such as Revelations of a Spirit Medium and Abnormal Hypnotic Phenomena, A Survey of Nineteenth-century Cases, (see separate listing). Corners and spine a bit rubbed and chafed, edges lightly bumped, some browning and foxing. Overall a sound and unmarked VG copy. (15906) Please check our website for current availability
Michael Dummett, (with Sylvia Mann). The Game of Tarot. From Ferrara to Salt Lake City. London : Gerald Duckworth & Co. Ltd., 1980. First edition. Hardcover. Large 4to, xxxii+ 600 pp. Original brown cloth, gilt title, etc. to spine, b&w illustrations, printed endpapers, double-column printing, analytical list of games, index. A comprehensive study of the history of the Tarot deck, which the author concludes was invented 'not for occultist or divinitory use, but to play a particular type of card game.' Cloth slightly faded at edges, otherwise a sound and bright unmarked copy. Near fine in VG dust jacket. (Dust jacket lightly chafed at edges, not price clipped). Scarce. (17379) Please check our website for current availability
[Charles-François] Dupuis. Abrégé De L'Origine De Tous Les Cultes. Par J. B. suivi du christianisme par Benjamin Constant avec une notice et des notes Critiques par B. Saint-Marc. Paris: Garnier-Freres, Libraires-Editeurs, ND (Circa 1900). Reprint. Hardcover, 8vo, xii + 412pp, Contemporary half-leather binding, with raised bands and gilt stamped leather title labels, and marbled papered boards. Marbled edges and patterned endpapers. An attractively bound copy of this well-known work on the origins of religious beliefs. This copy from the library of W. B. Crow with his printed ownership label (with address) on front pastedown. William Bernard Crow (1895 - 1976), was a scholar and practitioner of the occult arts, who was a friend of Aleister Crowley's, and who later made the seemingly improbable claim that he had also been appointed a Sovereign Patriarch of Crowley's Gnostic Catholic Church (Ecclesia Gnostica Catholica). Paper on boards quite heaily rubbed, particularly at fore-edge, and points, otherwise a clean VG+ copy. (31959) Please check our website for current availability
George Stanley Faber, The Origin of Pagan Idolatry. Ascertained from Historical Testimony and Circumstantial Evidence (3 Volumes). London, F. and C. Rivingtons, 1816. First edition. Hardcover, 4to, lxx+ 496pp+ 4pp of adverts & xxii+ 504pp & xxviii + 682 pp. Recently rebound in polished half leather with marbled paper boards. Leather spine labels with gilt title etc, gilt volume numbers and dates, raised bands. Copper engraved frontis in each volume, map, and appendix. A sound and crisp set of this massive work on the correspondences and resemblances of Pagan beliefs. Almost Frazerian in its breadth, it was largely assembled by the author in support his belief that the mythologies and religious beliefs of the ancients were retellings of the same stories found in the Old Testament. Very light rubbing to edges of boards, text bright and unmarked, a bit of light scattered foxing particularly to early pages and map, page edges uncut. Condition is better than VG. (9773) Please check our website for current availability
G. W. Farrow, & I. Menon, Translate etc.: The Concealed Essence of the Hevajra Tantra. With the Commentary Yogaratnamala. Delhi, India: Motilal Banarsidass, 1992. First edition. Hardcover. 8vo. lvi+ 308 pp, Original brown cloth, gilt title, etc. to spine, index. The text of this important tantra of the Mantrayana tradition of Buddhism, along with it's principal comment (by Krishnacarya). Just a hint of rubbing to edges, otherwise a sound and clean copy. Near fine in same dust jacket. (Dust jacket lightly rubbed at spine ends, not price clipped). (31971) Please check our website for current availability
James Fergusson, Rude Stone Monuments, in All Countries; Their Age and Uses. London, John Murray, 1872. First edition, Hardcover. large 8vo. xx, 560pp, map, 12 pp of adverts. Modern binding in quarter maroon leather with marbled paper boards, gilt title, etc. to spine. Fresh endpapers. Frontis, 234 in-text illustrations, color fold-out map. Publisher's "presentation" seal on title page. Fergusson's massive if idiosyncratic study of dolmen, menhirs, and other standing stones throughout the world. Just a hint of rubbing to boards, otherwise an attractive and bright copy - inside and out. Near fine condition. (14902) Please check our website for current availability
John Ferrier, An Essay Towards A Theory Of Apparitions. London: Printed For Cadel And Davies, 1813. First Edition. Hardcover, small 8vo. i-xix, 13-140pp. Recent full black leather with gilt tilting etc to upper board, gilt flourishes on spine, fresh endpapers. The final work by John Ferriar (1761-1815), a physician with a literary flair who in addition to books on medicine, history, and philosophy, also wrote poetry and plays. Here he posits that ghosts and other apparitions are usually the product of an individual's hallucinations, rather than having a independent existence. In the process of making his argument he examines and refutes the works of a number of prominent witch-finders, including Remy and Mather, as well as citing numerous other pertinent historical cases and his own personal research. Inner margins of pages vi & vii have an old paper reinforcement, otherwise a clean, fresh copy. (2281) Please check our website for current availability
Major-General J. G. R. Forlong, Rivers Of Life Or Sources And Streams Of The Faiths Of Man In All Lands; (2 Volumes plus chart in separate slipcase). London, England: Bernard Quaritch, 1883. First edition. Hardcovers, 4to, xlii+ 568pp & vi + 662pp, plus the scarce cloth chart in slipcase (chart 7.5 ' by 2.25 ' when un folded). Green cloth with gilt titles, etc. to spines and front boards, black rules. Colored maps, 17 full-page illustrations, 339 in-text illustrations. Forlong's massive study on comparative religon and the origin and interconnectedness of beliefs. Now generally rejected in scholarly circles, the work was esteemed by the likes of Aleister Crowley, who called it "An invaluable text-book of old systems of initiation," and listed Forlong amongst the Saints of his Ecclesiae Gnosticae Catholicae. Bumped and very lightly frayed at corners and bottom of spines, edges rubbed, boards lightly chafed, still an unusually nice clean VG set of this massive work. The cloth chart is housed in a separate green cloth slipcase, the spine of the slipcase is rubbed at the head and tail and the chart a little darkened but otherwise clean and bright. Shipping for this set will be at cost to the customer. (31975) Please check our website for current availability
Georgii Franci (Georg Franck von Franckenau). Palingenesia Sive Resuscitatione Artificiali Plantarum, Hominum Et Animalium E Suis Cineribus Liber Singularis, Possibilitatem Futurae Corporum Nostrorum Resurrectionis Solide Ac Curiose Demonstrans, Multaque Alia Reconditae Naturae Arcana Pandens, Propter Insignem, Quem Theologis, Physicis, Botanicis, Alisque Eruditis Praestat, Utiliatatem Iam Revisus, Emendatus, Nec Non Commentario, Et Variorum, Suisque Experimentis Quamplurimis Illustratus A IO. Christiano Nehringio. Praemissum Est Elogium Autori A Vindiciano Conscriptum . NP: Halae Apud Felicem Du Serre , 1717. Hardcover, 8vo, [xii], 40, 48, 296, [40] pp. Contemporary vellum, rubricated title page, green page edges, woodcut head and tail pieces, and engraved section title. The author, Georg Franck of Frankenau (1643-1704 ) was a noted scholar, best known for his botanical dictionary: 'Flora Francica.' Oddly he also seems to have been the first person to record in print the customs associated with the Osterhase (Easter Hare = Easter Bunny) in the course of a medical 1682 paper "De ovis paschalibus - von Oster Eyern" on the negative effects to the health of excessive consumption of Easter eggs. The title of this work 'Palingenesia' translates loosely as 'back birthing' or 'bringing back to being', with the subtitle explaining that it deals with 'the artificial revival of plants, men and animals from their ashes.' The term Palingenesia is for Metempsychosis or Reincarnation, and to regeneration and restoration in both the religious/philosophical and practical senses. In the philosophy of the Stoics the regeneration was preceded by dissolution, and in many religions Baptism is seen as an important part of the process. This genuinely rare study appears to cover all aspects of rejuvenescence, with an emphasis on the spiritual. The vellum has pulled away from the edges of the boards, and has some rippling, but the binding is still strong and supple, with no damage to the hinges. Neat contemporary owner's signature, and hand-drawn heraldic device (presumably serving as a bookplate of sorts) on front pastedown. A little light yellowing to some pages, a couple of insignificant marginal worm holes, and a light 'wave' through some leaves. Still, the pages are fresh, clean and flexible, in sturdy binding. An attractive copy of a truly uncommon book. (2287) Please check our website for current availability
Hermann Gollancz, [Editor and translator] The Book Of Protection. Being a Collection of Charms. Now Edited for the First Time from Syraic Mss. London: Henry Frowde, Oxford University Press, 1912. First Edition. Hardcover, 8vo. 200pp. Original dark-red cloth titled in gilt on spine panel, with 27 illustrations; with translation, introduction and notes. Gives the original text and translations of a number of rare Syriac Manuscripts, which tackle everything from 'Binding False Dreams,' 'Binding the Sorcerers'. 'For the Man upon whom sorcery has been practiced,' 'On the Evil Eye' to 'Ban for the fold of cattle,' 'Concerning Lunacy,' etc. Cleverly produced with the English text starting at one end of the book, and the Syriac at the other, with both ending in the middle (thus following the Western tradition of writing from left to right, and the semitic of writing right to left). Cloth lightly faded at edges, upper corners bumped, spine ends a bit bruised, endpapers toned, tight, otherwise a sound and clean VG+ copy with scarce VG - dust jacket. (Dust jacket spine darkened, upper spine chipped, now in protective plastic). (31951) Please check our website for current availability
Jacob Grimm, Teutonic Mythology (Four Volumes ). Gloucester, MA: Peter Smith, 1976. Facsimile edition. Hardcover, Four volume set, 8vo, x + 438pp & 460pp & lvi+ + 378pp & vi + 612pp. Saffron cloth with black titling to spines, indexes. Translated with Notes etc by James Steven Stallybrass. This edition was originally published in 1883 - 1888, but is still a standard reference on the subject, and quite difficult to find in any hardcover printing. Light chafing to edges and corners, upper corner of Vol. 3 bruised, all spine ends rubbed with very light fraying at tops of Vols. 1 & 4 and bottom of Vol. 4, pages evenly toned. Otherwise a sound and unmarked VG set. No jackets as issued. (6987) Please check our website for current availability
Angelo De Gubernatis, Zoological Mythology; or the Legends of the Animals (Two Volumes). London, Trübner & Co., 1872. First Edition. Hardcover. 8vo. xxviii + 432 pp & viii + 442 pp. Original green cloth with gilt title, etc. to spines, gilt Centaur design on upper boards, black rules, bevelled edges, index. Count Angelo de Gubernatis (1840 - 1913), was a widely travelled German-educated professor of Sanskrit at Florence, who later transferred to the University of Rome La Sapienza. He gained renown as an Orientalist and writer on mythology, with this study of the mythology related to animals amongst the most famous of his works. A delightfully broad and quirky collection - with chapter titles such as 'The Goat as Spy,' 'The Omniscient Vulture,' 'The Souls of the Dead as Mice,' 'The Leprous Maiden - Cinderella,' etc. etc. Light rubbing to edges, corners and spine ends chafed with a tiny bit of fraying, spines a bit darkened, some foxing, mostly to page edges, small bookplate of a previous owner on front pastedowns. Otherwise a sound and bright, unmarked set. Better than Very Good condition, with mylar dust jackets. (10447) Please check our website for current availability
Godfrey Higgins, The Celtic Druids; Or, An Attempt to Shew, That The Druids Were The Priests Of Oriental Colonies Who Emigrated From India, And Were The Introducers Of The First Or Cadmen Systems Of Letters, And The Builders Of Stonehenge, Of Carnac, And Of Other Cyclopean Works, In Asia And Europe. St. Paul's Churchyard [ London ]: Rowland Hunter, 1829. First edition - second issue. Hardcover, 4to. [ 16 ] + xcvi+ 324 pp. Contemporary green pebbled cloth with original printed paper spine label, 4 + 16 + 96 + 324pp. Second issue with the 'New Preface' leaf. Complete with single leaf of 'Errata et Corrigenda' and the inserted slip of 'Additional Corrigenda' With lithographic and printed title-pages, map, forty-five lithographic plates (four folding), seven mounted lithographic vignettes and seven wood-engraved vignettes in the text, appendix, index. The author's first major work, which was highly influential in furthering the romantic view of Druidism among Higgins's contemporaries. He saw the druids surviving as the Culdees and then as Freemasons - albeit that most masons were blissfully unaware of their pagan background - and four years later he elaborated the ideas set out in The Celtic Druids in Anacalypsis, his monumental survey of ancient and oriental beliefs. Spine a bit darkened, paper title label faded and a bit chipped though still legible, corners bumped and lightly frayed, spine ends bruises with two short tears, front endpaper split at hinge, front hinge quite tender, endpapers browned, some scattered foxing (for some reason the photographs make the foxing appear a little worse than it is). (2242) Please check our website for current availability
Emma Curtis Hopkins, Scientific Christian Mental Practice. Cornwall Bridge, CT: High Watch Fellowship, 1958. Hardcover, large 8vo, 280 pp. Original blue cloth with gilt title, etc. to spine and front cover. A book of teachings by Emma Curtis Hopkins (1849-1925), one time student of Mary Baker Eddy, and a prominent member of the New Thought movement, faith healer, teacher, and author, who founded her own Theological Seminary of Chicago. Just a hint of shelf rubbing and some very light spotting to boards, corners bumped, endpapers lightly discolored, otherwise a sound and bright VG + copy. No dust jacket. (23796) Please check our website for current availability
D. H. Jacques M.D., The Temperaments; or the Varieties of Physical Constitution in Man, Considered in their Relations to Mental Character and the Practical Affairs of Life, Etc. etc. London: L. N. Fowler & Co., 1878. First Edition. Hardcover, 8vo. vi + 240pp + adverts. Original decorated brown cloth, gilt title to spine, black title and embellishments to upper board, b&w illustrations. A work from the same general school of thought that brought us the study of phyisognomy and phrenology. The author posits the existence of four basic 'Temperaments' ('the Sanguine, the Lymphatic, The Bilious and the Nervous,') and explores their nature and effect on human health. Boards very lightly chafed, corners and spine ends slightly rubbed, previous owner's name in pen, very light foxing to end papers, otherwise a bright and sound, unmarked VG+ copy. (31961) Please check our website for current availability
Stephen Jones, Masonic Miscellanies In Poetry and Prose. Containing: I. The Muse Of Masonry, Comprising One Hundred and Seventy Masonic Songs..., II. The Masonic Essayist, III. The Freemason's Vade-Mecum. London: Printed for Vernor and Hood , 1797. First edition. Hardcover, small octavo, xiv + 328 pp. [+ IIpp. adverts] Contemporary calf boards, somewhat clumsily rebacked with later leather spine and leather title labels. Marbled endpapers, engraved frontis and tailpieces. Approx. two thirds of the work is made up of Masonic songs, and a "collection of Toasts and Sentiments," with the remainder comprising a number of interesting essays, including 'A Vindication of Masonry from a Charge of having given rise to the French Revolution.' Nineteenth century owner's signature and date on verso of frontis, small section clipped from top of frontis leaf (not affecting illustration), old damp stain across about a quarter of the frontis, which also very lightly affects the titlepage and subsequent five leaves. Moderate overall wear commensurate with it's age, a near VG copy. (2231) Please check our website for current availability
Godfre Ray King (Pseudonymn of Guy Warren Ballard), The "I Am" Discourses. Chicago, IL: Saint Germain Press, Inc., 1936. Second Edition. Hardcover, sm 8vo, xx + 362pp + adverts. Original textured green cloth w/ gilt title, etc, to spine, and gilt title to cover, color frontis and color plates. Inscribed and Signed by Godfre Ray King: "The full power of your mighty 'I Am' Presence enfold you forever in it's transcendent light and manifest your full perfection now sustained. Godfre Ray King". Thirty-three discourses said to have been dictated to King by 'the Ascended Master Saint Germain, and those other Ascended Masters concerned with his activity,' in 1932. King (Guy Warren Ballard, 1878-1939) claimed to have first encountered this manifestation of the 18th Century European mystic on the slopes of Mt. Shasta, California, some two years earlier. Spine slightly darkened, ust a hint of rubbing to edges and shelf dust, previous owner's name, otherwise a sound and unmarked near fine copy. No dust jacket issued. (31947) Please check our website for current availability
George Frederick Kunz, The Magic of Jewels and Charms. Philadelphia, PA: J.B. Lippincott Company, 1915. First edition. Hardcover, large 8vo, 422 pp, Original decorated blue cloth, light blue titling, top edge gilt, well illustrated with 90 illustrations in color, doubletone and line, printed tissue guards. Presentation copy, inscribed and signed in the year of publication, from the author to John Teele Pratt (1873 - 1927), the New York corporate attorney, music impresario, and philanthropist. A richly illustrated study of the myths and lore that interconnects jewels, gems, stones, superstitions and astrological lore, the religious, magical and talismanic use of various stones, the creation of amulets, healing stones, and unusually, a chapter devoted to meteorites and celestial stones. Chapter headings include: Magic Stones and Electric Gems; On Meteorites or Celestial Stones; Stones of Healing; On the Virtues of Fabulous Stones, Concretions and Fossils; Snake Stones and Bezoars; Angels and Ministers of Grace, On the Religious Use of Various Stones, Amulets: Ancient, Medieval, and Oriental; Amulets of Primitive Peoples and of Modern Times, Facts and Fancies about Precious Stones. Spine slightly darkened with some fading to print, spine ends lightly bruised, a few pages browned, otherwise a sound and bright, unmarked copy. Better than VG condition. (6257) Please check our website for current availability
John Landseer, Sabæan Researches ..., on the Engraved Hieroglyphics of Chaldea, Egypt and Canaan. Illustrated with Engravings of Babylonian Cylinders and Other Inedited Monuments of Antiquity. London: Hurst, Robinson, and Co., 1823. First Edition. Hardcover, 4to. xii + 402pp. Recent quarter leather with matching marbled boards, gilt titling to leather spine labels, raised bands. Fresh endpapers. Frontispiece and additional engraved title-page, one engraved plate (of the ceiling of the Temple of Isis at Dendera) and twelve engravings in text. Index. The author, John Landseer (1769-1852), was one of the most important engravers of the time, and the father of painter Sir Edwin Landseer. No surprise then that the essays here presented: on ancient Egyptian, Babalonyian, Chaldean and Phonecian antiquities and history, are accompanied by superb engravings. Occasional foxing, sometimes rather heavy (particularly to the frontis and prelims) but generally the text pages are bright and fresh. Light pencil notes to lower margin of one or two pages - easily erased. Binding sound and in fine condition, internals overall VG. (31970) Please check our website for current availability
William Lilly, Christian Astrology. Modestly Treated of in three Books ....: Regulus, 1985. Third edition (Facsimile of the 1647 First Edition) Hardcover. thick 8vo. 874 pp. & inserted errata sheet. Full brown faux (?) leather with gilt titling etc to spine, top edge gilt, b&w frontis of Lilly, attached red silk page marker. A complete facsimile edition of William Lilly's classic 1647 work; renowned as the most definitive work on horary astrology ever written in the English language. This edition contains all three books originally included in Christian Astrology along with an Afterword, Biographical Appendix, and Essay entitled "A Modern Astrological Perspective" by Geoffrey Cornelius. Christian Astrology is the major work by the foremost 17th century English astrologer, the Leicestershire-born William Lilly (1602 - 1681), who famously predicted the Great Fire of London in 1666. Unused copy in Fine condition. No dust jacket issued. Scarce text in a lovely edition. (31965) Please check our website for current availability
Sir Henry Layard, Early Adventures in Persia, Susiana, and Babylonia Including a Residence Among the Bakhtiyari and Other Wild Tribes Before the Discovery on Ninevah. London: John Murray, 1887. First Edition. Hardcover. 8vo. Two volumes. 10pp+ 490pp+ 2pp adverts & 10pp+ 511pp. Original green decorated cloth, gilt titling to spines, color and b&w frontis, illustrations, 3 folding maps. Vol. I inscribed by the author " Mrs. Kay, From her very old and sincere friend, H. Layard, December 1887", with a presentation slip '"from the author" laid down onto the ffep of Vol. II. Written by Layard late in his life about his first travels in what is now Iraq and Iran. During his journey, Layard took great risk traveling alone, often taking the most difficult and dangerous routes. Initially planning to journey overland from Palestine to India, and then to Ceylon - he reached Isfahan in Persia before turning back because of the first British Afghan war. His experiences on this journey were essential to his later success in working with tribes and Ottoman authorities in excavating Nineveh. Very light wear, spine ends chafed but professionally strengthened on the reverse, recased with fresh endpapers. Overall VG+ sound and unmarked in protective mylar dust jackets. Both volumes housed in a custom-mdae marbled paper covered slipcase with leather trim. (31945) Please check our website for current availability
Henry Lindlahr, Natural Therapeutics, Philosophy and Practice (Two Volumes) Chicago: Lindlahr Publishing Co., 1919. Second Edition. Hardcover, Two Volumes, 8 vo. x+ 516+ appendix and adverts & 470pp+ appendix and adverts. Original blue cloth with gilt titling etc to spines and upper boards, reference indexes. Dr. Henry Lindlahr was one of the leading proponents of the Nature Cure ('drugless and bloodless therapy') movement during the early twentieth century, and in this self-published work - now considered a classic in its field - he outlines the philosophy and practice of his 'Natural Therapeutics' system of alternative medicine. Spines slightly sunned, a hint of foxing to page edges, previous owner's name to endpapers, small contemporary stickers to endpaper of Vol. II warning of the dangers of alchohol. Overall a bright, unmarked near fine set without dust jackets. Scarce. (31966) Please check our website for current availability
Sir Oliver Lodge, Modern Problems. London: Methuen and Co. Ltd, 1912. First edition, Inscribed. Hardcover, 8vo. viii + 320pp + 30pp adverts. Original maroon cloth with gilt titling etc to spine and upper board, index. Inscribed and signed by Lodge on the front free endpaper to " The Rev. A.B. Chalmers DD, from the author, Oliver Lodge, Midsummer 1913". A collection of essays, mainly on philosophy and social issues, by the scientist and psychical researcher. Light rubbing to spine ends and corners, top edge dusty, a few 1/4 inch tears to cloth of upper spine, otherwise a sound and bright VG+ copy without dust jacket. (31963) Please check our website for current availability
Max Freedom Long, The Secret Science Behind Miracles. Los Angeles, CA: Kosmon Press, 1948. First edition. Hardcover, 8vo, x + 404 pp. + adverts. Original blue textured cloth with gilt title, etc. to spine and front cover, b&w illustrations. Inscribed and signed by the author on the front free endpaper "For Dr. Edward P. Meske with all best wishes, from Max Freedom Long", and additionally signed by Long on the title page. The first of Long's works on Huna, said by him to be a secret religious and healing science passed down from ancient Polynesia. Light chafing to spine ends, page top edge a bit discolored, a bit of tape residue to endpapers, otherwise a sound and bright, umarked copy in VG+ condition. No dust jacket. (24311) Please check our website for current availability
Lux Aurea. Light from the Summerland. Being a Series of Articles Illustrating the Truth and Teachings of Spiritualism. London, Gay and Bird, 1901. First Edition. Hardcover, small 8vo. 208 pp, Original gilt decorated red cloth, gilt title, etc. to spine and front cover. A collection of essays about and in defence of Spiritualism. Extremely unusual. Cloth slightly discolored and gilt-work dulled, endpapers browned, otherwise a sound and internally bright VG copy. (17065) Please check our website for current availability
R. R. Madden, Phantasmata. Or Illusion And Fanaticism Of Protean Forms Productive Of Great Evils. (Two Volumes). London: T.C. Newby, 1857. First edition. Hardcover, large 8vo, two volumes, 504 pp & 588 pp. Original blind stamped brown cloth (rebacked) with gilt title etc to spine, copperplate frontis. A study of 'epidemic fanaticisms:' the outbreaks of mass psychosis or popular hysteria that manifested in the witch craze and the Inquisition. Unsurprisingly much material on the witch trials, including a chapter on Loudun, as well as chapters on the Inquisition, 'Theomania,' Swedenborg, Lycanthropy, Child Sacrifice, and 'Epidemic Hysteria' itself - including a fascinating sub-chapter on "The Tarantula dancing Epidemic of Apulia." A substantial portion of the second volume is devoted to the mental condition and trial of Joan of Arc. Rather tightly rebacked with the defective original spines laid down over fresh cloth. The original boards and spine have been varnished, giving the volumes a slightly shiny look. Boards a bit chafed at the edges, otherwise a stout set, clean throughout with no markings and only a bit of light foxing to preliminary and end papers. (16703) Please check our website for current availability
Guido Majno, The Healing Hand. Man and Wound in Ancient World. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1975. First Edition. Hardcover, small 4to. xxiv + 572. Oatmeal cloth with red/black titling and device to upper board, b&w plates, notes and index. Inscribed by the author "To Dr. John Scott, Healer, in deep gratitude. Guido Majno. Worcester, March 1976". The physician's arts in the ancient world: "With rare zest and humor, Dr. Majno depicts the human struggle to understand and treat wounds inflicted by nature and by people. ... From the fossil, archaeological, and historical records of the ancient world, the author extracts a tale of triumph and fallibility, of stunning insight and fatal error." Just a hint of shelf dust, otherwise a sound and bright copy in Near Fine condition. VG dust jacket is lightly edge worn and price clipped. (31949) Please check our website for current availability
[Astrology] Pier Angleo Manzolli, (Marcelli Palingenii Stellatus). Marcelli Palingenii Stellati Poetae Doctisimi Zodiacus Vitae Hoc Est, De Hominus vita, studio, ac moribus optime instituendis. Libri XII. Cum indice locupletissimo. Lugduni [Lyon]: NP, 1576. Hardcover, 16mo, 366 +, [lxxxii] pp. Recent suede leather binding, with gilt-stamped leather title label to spine. An early edition of an important work - written in poetic form - of Renaissance astrology, science and hermetic philosophy. Zodiacus Vitae (The Zodiac of Life) was first published in 1530 and comprises twelve 'books', each of which is named after one of the Zodiacal constellations. The author's unorthodox beliefs about the nature of the heavens roused the ire of the Church, and Zodiacus Vitae was one of the first works to be placed on the Papal Index of Forbidden Books, which was established in 1558. The author, usually identified as Pier Angelo Manzoli (ca. 1502- ca. 1543) successfully escaped the full wrath of the Inquisitors by having died some fifteen years earlier, although according to some sources the Inquisitors nonetheless achieved a punishment of sorts by disinterring and burning his bones. Perhaps not surprisingly, the book became enormously popular and went through a number of editions, influencing many including Shakespeare, upon whom it is said to have had a profound effect. A few neat words written in a contemporary hand on the title page, approx. two dozen pages have some light, contemporary underlining, and a word or two of marginalia, otherwise the text is clean with just some light uniform browning, the pages still fresh and supple. The binding is fine, save for a hint of rubbing. (31958) Please check our website for current availability
[Kabbalah] Henry More, A Collection Of Several Philosophical Writings Of Dr. Henry More, Fellow of Christ's-College in Cambridge. As Namely, Antidote against Atheism. Appendix to the Said Antidote. Enthusiasmus Triumphatus. His Letters to Des Cartes, etc. Immortality of the Soul. Conjectura Cabbalistica. London: Printed by Joseph Downing in Bartholomew-Close near West-Smithfield, 1712 - 1713. The Fourth Edition Corrected and much Enlarged. Hardcover, 4to, i-xxviii, 1-234pp & i-xiv, 1-56pp & i-vi, 56-138pp & i-xvi, 1-258pp & i-viii, i-iv, i-vi, 1-243pp, (244-252pp). Contemporary blind-stamped leather boards, recently rebacked with new leather spine, blind rules raised bands and red leather spine label, gilt title and author to label. The Best Edition of this collection of works by Henry More (1614-1687), the most prolific of the Cambridge Platonists. It includes his major works, An Antidote Against Atheism, and Of the Immortality of the Soul his letters to Descartes, and the 1713 printing of Conjectura Cabbalistic, with its integral but separately title-paged Defence of the Threefold Cabbala. In this early English-language work on the subject, More identified a "Threefold Cabbala, Literal, Philosophical, and Mystical, or Divinely Moral," which he explored in the light of his own spiritual philosophy and the perceived secret interpretations of Genesis it revealed. Boards rubbed at edges, some darkening to end leaves, a few light owner's marks to front end paper. Generally a sound and unmarked copy of this scarce work. (2386) Please check our website for current availability
Margaret Alice Murray, The God Of The Witches. London: Faber and Faber, 1956. Reprint. Hardcover. 8 vo. 212 pp. Original black cloth with gilt titling to spine, color frontis, b&w plates, references, index. A beautiful copy of the reprint of 1952 revised edition of this influential work. Top edge dusty, toning and offset to endpapers, otherwise a lovely near fine copy in near fine dust jacket. (Dust jacket very lightly rubbed at edges and extremities, not price clipped). (31927) Please check our website for current availability
William Neilson, Mesmerism, in Its Relation To Health And Disease And The Present State Of Medicine. Edinburgh: Shepherd & Elliot, 1855. First edition, Inscribed. Hardcover, small 8vo, xii + 250 pp + 4 pp of adverts. Original brown cloth, gilt title, etc. to spine, blind stamped rules and design to boards. Author's inscription on title page "Miss S. J. Smith...from the author, May 1866". An overview of the history and practice of mesmerism. Lightly shaken - but binding sound, boards lightly chafed at edges, some fraying of cloth at top and bottom of spine, cloth split a bit at upper and lower gutters, spine a bit darkened, cloth slightly faded at fore edges, corners bumped, top edge dusty, paper lightly browned, text has a few scattered pencil marks (easily erased). A good + copy without dust jacket. (2393) Please check our website for current availability
William Tyler Olcott, Sun Lore of All Ages. A Collection of Myths and Legends Concerning the Sun and Its Worship. New York, NY: G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1914. First Edition. Hardcover, 8vo, xiv + 346pp + 6pp of adverts. Maroon cloth decorated with b&w photo inset on upper board, gilt title, etc. to spine and front cover, top edge gilt, frontis w/ tissue guard, 30 full-page b&w illustrations and several drawings, biblio and index. Light chafing to extremities, cloth slightly darkened at edges, corners and spine ends rubbed, internals bright and unmarked. Overall a sound and attractive VG+ copy. No dust jacket. (31929) Please check our website for current availability
Ophiel (Edward C. Peach). The Art and Practice of the Occult. St. Paul, MN: Peach Publishing Company, 1968. First Edition. Hardcover, 8vo, 160 pp. Black textured boards with gilt titling etc to spine and upper board, illustrated endpapers. Some offset from dust jacket to boards, paper lightly browned, otherwise a sound and unmarked VG+ copy in VG dust jacket. (Dust jacket lightly rubbed at edges particularly at spine ends). (31960) Please check our website for current availability
P. D. Ouspensky, The Symbolism Of The Tarot. Philosophy Of Occultism In Pictures And Numbers. St. Petersburg, Russia: Trood Printing and Publishing Co., 1913. First edition. Hardcover, 8vo, 66pp. Original printed textured paper wrappers bound into later green cloth with author's name in gilt lettered up spine. Ownership signature of H. Stanley Redgrove (1887-1943) the respected historian of alchemy and the occult on title page. The Russian-published first English language edition of Ouspensky's work on the Tarot, written and published several years before his life-changing encounter with Gurdjieff. Wrappers lightly rubbed and marked as usual, pages quite browned, the later endpapers somewhat darkened in places. Old bookseller's label on title page, otherwise sound and unmarked. Overall near VG. (2265) Please check our website for current availability
W. M. Flinders Petrie, Stonehenge. Plans, Description, and Theories. London, Edward Stanford, 1880. First edition. Hardcover, sm.4to, 42pp. + adverts at rear. Original brick-colored cloth with gilt title to upper board, blind rules, illustrations, plan in two parts (one fold-out) at rear. Housed in a slightly later custom-made clamshell box, beautifully crafted in in complimentary brown cloth with green leather title label on spine, gilt title, etc. to label. The first detailed and accurate survey of Stonehenge. It was also the first major archaeological survey and publication to be undertaken by the young Flinders Petrie, whose name would later become synonymous with Egyptology. Cloth slightly darkened and a little marked, rubbing to corners and edges, light yellowing to pages, front endpaper cracked but holding well, a few words underlined in ink, and about a dozen short pencil marks in the margins. Text otherwise unmarked and bright. Overall VG in VG+ slipcase. (14913) Please check our website for current availability
[Edgar Allan Poe]. William F. Gill, The Life of Edgar Allan Poe. New York / London: W.J. Widdleton / Chatto & Windus, 1878. Fourth Edition, Revised and Enlarged. Hardcover, 8 vo. xiv + 348pp. Half leather with marbled boards, raised bands and gilt decorated spine, with gilt stamped leather title label. Marbled endpapers and page edges. Fold-outs, notes. A surprisingly difficult-too-find biography, given its numerous printings. Includes facsimile reproductions of a number of important Poe documents. Light chafing a to edges and corners, bump on fore-edge of bottom board, paper lightly browned. Otherwise a sound and attractive VG+ copy. (31952) Please check our website for current availability
Raphael [Robert Cross Smith]. The Familiar Astrologer. An Easy Guide To Fate, Destiny & Foreknowledge .... London: Printed for T. Noble, 1849. Reprint. Hardcover, large 8vo, viii + 716pp. Rather ordinary modern brown cloth with gilt title, etc. to spine. Color frontis and 4 color plates, b&w illustrations in-text. The last major work to be published by Smith. It is really a compendium of over 150 short essays on a wide variety of occult themes. About a third would be astrological, with the rest on subjects as diverse as bibliomancy, banshees, celestial magic, the devil's banquet, elves in Ireland, electric eels (?), the evil eye, the fascination of dogs (and birds), the fairy wife, invocating the dead, obeah man, the possessed one, secrets in geomancy, etc. etc. Cloth lightly chafed, very slightly frayed at lower corner of upper board, fresh endpapers, small scarab device blind-stamped onto front endpaper and title page, paper lightly browned with a bit of spotting, some scattered pencil notes and underlining. Overall near VG. Scarce (31973) Please check our website for current availability
Raphael [Robert Cross Smith]. The Royal Book of Dreams ...; from an Ancient and Curious Manuscript, ... London: Orlando Hodgson, [1830] . First Edition. Hardcover, small 8vo. 162pp. Original decorated brown cloth, gilt titling and embellishments to spine, gilt title to upper board, folding engraved frontis. Written by the 'first' Raphael, Robert Cross Smith (1795-1832). Raphael was best known in the field of astrology - his books played a leading part in the upsurge of interest in the subject in nineteenth century England - but is also said to have been a practitioner of the magical arts, studying with and greatly influenced by Francis Barrett. The Royal Books of Dreams, which ties in closely with astrology, was one of the first 'dream manuals' to be published, either in response to or anticipating a growing popular interest in the subject. The work's full title is "The Royal Book of Dreams; from an Ancient and Curious Manuscript, Which ws Buried in the Earth During Several Centuries. Containing One Thousand & Twenty-four Oracles, or Answers to Dreams, by a Curious Yet Perfectly Facile and Easy Method, Void of All Abstruse or Difficult Calculations; whereby any Person of Ordinary Capacity May Discover Those Secrets of Fate, Which the Universal Fiat of All Nations, in Every Age and Clime, has Acknowledged to be Portended by Dreams and Nocturnal Visions.' Boards lightly chafed, cloth spine has been detached and subsequently glued down - binding otherwise quite sound. Small tear to frontis, which also has a small tape repair on the reverse. Pages browned at edges, one gathering sprung, and a bit of scattered foxing and spotting but internals generally clean, unmarked. Overall VG condition aside from the spine flaw. Scarce. (31962)Please check our website for current availability
Dr. C. W. Roback, The Mysteries Of Astrology And The Wonders Of Magic. Including A History Of The Rise And Progress Of Astrology, And The Various Branches Of Necromancy; Together With Valuable Directions And Suggestions Relative To The Casting Nativities, And Predictions By Geomancy, Chiromancy, Physiognomy, &c. Also, Highly Interesting Narratives, Anecdotes, &c. Illustrative Of The Marvels Of Witchcraft, Spiritual Phenomena, And The Results Of Supernatural Influence. Boston, MA: Published By The Author, 1854. First edition. Hardcover, large 8vo, 238 pp. Original decorated brown cloth, rebacked, gilt titling etc, and blind stamped. Illustrated in black and white, tables, frontis. An eccentric book, by a very eccentric gentleman. The author begins with an autobiographical chapter, telling of his birth in Sweden, his development of an interest in the esoteric, and his travels round the world, studying astrology and the occult, before settling in America, where he divided his time between Baltimore, Philadelphia, New York and Boston. The book itself is largely devoted to fortune-telling by chiromancy, the use of nativities, geomancy, physiognomy etc. although it also has sections on Medical Herbs, and 'The Famous Elixir of Life.' The second half is a collection of "Narratives and Anecdotes in Relation to Witchcraft, Magic, Apparitions, Visions, Presentiments and other Supernatural Phenomena, with tales of Dr. John Dee, Hopkins the Witchfinder, etc etc. The book closes with advertisements for the good Doctor's services - he advertises "Verbal Consultations" and "Nativities Accurately calculated and read in full, according to the Planets and Celestial Signs that rule the human frame and determine the fates and fortunes of both sexes." as well as 'Nativities by Geomancy.' Interestingly he charged Ladies a lot less than Gentlemen. A curious work by a practitioner of all the esoteric arts - and quite possibly shysterism as well. Boards well rubbed and bumped with corners brusied and rubbed through, rebacked with remains of original decorative spine laid down. Fresh endpapers. A dark stain to the top corner of the last dozen leaves, and occasional much lighter blotches to the text which is also dusty in places. Despite being well-worn - this is still a sound Good + copy of an unusual book. (2274) Please check our website for current availability
Nicholas Roerich, and Francis R. Grant, Mary Siegrist, George Grebenstchikoff and Ivan Narodny. Himalaya. A Monograph. New York: Brentano's, 1926. Hardcover. Folio. 210pp. Original gilt decorated brown silk, patterned endpapers, housed in original heavy card slipcase with large printed title label. Edition limited to 500 numbered copies, this copy being out of series. 24 tipped in mounted Color plates and 78 Halftones. "Roerich has turned towards the East. There, facing the white ramparts of the world, the Himalayas, his genius sounds a cosmic note, and he fulfills that magnificent panorama of art to which this Monograph is devoted...." A collection of Roerich's striking art along with his own impressions of his journeys through the Himalayas. With articles by Francis R. Grant, Mary Siegrist, George Grebenstchikoff, Ivan Narodny and "Banners of the East" by Nicholas Roerich. Spine a bit sunned, and rubbed at head with the loss of a match-width sliver of cloth. Top edge has a few light spots, otherwise a sound and bright VG+ copy. Slipcase a bit worn and rubbed at edges, lower fore-edge split though slipcase is quite sound, good condition. Scarce. (31982) Please check our website for current availability
Edouard Schuré, (Translated by F. Rothwell). The Priestess of Isis. London: William Rider & Son, Ltd., 1912. Second edition. Hardcover, 8vo. vi + 318 pp. Original maroon cloth with gilt title, etc. to spine, blind stamp title and design to upper board. An unusual early printing of this occult-themed novel by the well-known author and esotericist Edouard Schuré (1841-1929). Light chafing to boards and edges, top edge dusty, spine slightly canted, corners and spine ends lightly bruised, a bit of ink underlining on a few pages - otherwise unmarked. Overall a sound and clean VG copy of this scarce novel. (18105) Please check our website for current availability
Seti (Editor) With contributions by Marie Corelli, Henry Drummond, Evelyn Hope, John Ray, A. Streete, Frederick Shand, and others. The Golden Dawn. Volumes 1 & 2. London, England: The Golden Dawn Office, 1929-1931. First Edition. Hardcover, small thick 8vo. Bound periodical. 774 pp. Contemporary blue cloth with gilt title, etc. to spine, speckled page edges. Consecutive issues of this monthly periodical beginning with Volume 1. no I (April 1929) through Volume 2 no. 12 (March 1931). A journal of Spiritualism and spirituality, formerly published under the title 'Healing.' The journal takes its name from a passage in the Book of Revelations, and apparently has nothing at all to do with the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn. Boards lightly chafed with some light fraying to corners and spine ends, short split to cloth at lower fore-edge of spine, pencil notes on a very few pages (easily erased). Overall VG+. (14603) Please check our website for current availability
Simon, Edits and Introduces. The Necronomicon. New York: Schlangekraft Inc. / Barnes Graphics, 1977. First edition, Limited. Hardcover, Quarto, lvi + 222pp. Original black leather, ornately decorated with silver title on spine and title and decorations on front cover. All edges silver. Black and white diagrams. Black ribbon page marker. Edition limited to 666 numbered copies. A very nice copy, a hint of very pale foxing to the first few leaves, and the silver gilt on the spine is just a trifle rubbed. Otherwise near Fine inside and out, and seldom seen thus. (No dustjacket, none issued) (31845) Please check our website for current availability
A. P. Sinnett, The Rationale of Mesmerism. London, Kegan Paul, Trench, Trubner & Co. Ltd., 1892. First edition. Hardcover. 8vo. 164pp + [ 32pp adverts ]. Original grey-brown cloth, gilt title, etc. to spine and front cover, blind rules. An unusual study by the well-known Theosophist. Boards a bit chafed with some minor spotting, corners bumped, spine slightly cocked, otherwise binding sound and internals quite bright and unmarked. Overall near VG without dust jacket. (23929) Please check our website for current availability
[Sotheby & Co]. Catalogue of Highly Important Japanese Prints, Illustrated Books, Drawings and Fan Paintings from the Henri Vever Collection ( Three Volumes ) Part I, Part II and Final Part. London: Sotheby & Co., 1974, 1975 & 1997. First Edition. Hardcover, Folio, Three Volumes (complete), 382pp & 482pp & 207pp; Original pale green cloth with gilt titling etc. Black and white & color plates with descriptions, many fold out plates. A major and important reference book. The third part consists almost entirely of color reproductions of Japanese prints, with accompanying captions. Previous owner's name in ink to endpaper of volume I, otherwise just a hint of rubbing to edges and shelf dust to all volumes. Sound and unmarked near fine set in VG dust jackets. (Dust jackets very lightly rubbed at edges with a few short tears, now in protective plastic covers) (31953) Please check our website for current availability
[Prophecy] John Spencer, A Discourse Concerning Prodigies: .... to which is added a short Treatise Concerning Vulgar Prophecies (Two parts in one volume). London: J. Field for W. Graves, 1665. Second Edition Corrected and Enlarged. Hardcover, small 8vo. (xxxii) + 408pp.,+ (viii) 136 +(vi)pp. Contemporary leather boards, recently rebacked with matching leather spine with, red leather title label, with gilt titling, raised bands and gilt embellishments to spine, blind rules. Fresh endpapers. A greatly expanded edition of Spencer's refutation of omens and apparitions and the first to include his new publication, a Discourse Concerning Vulgar Prophecies. The book examines a copious assemblage of superstitions and auguries, such as comets, eclipses, the turning of ponds to blood and the moving of mountains, tracing the history of the Old Testament and classical mythology and commending the study of Natural Philosophy. John Spencer (1630--1693) was an eminent Hebraist and has been held to be "the founder of the study of comparative religion." (Wing, S4948) Leather rubbed at edges, old bookplates relaid onto recent endpapers. Light dampstain to upper corner of some pages not affecting text. Still a solid, attractive copy. (14892) Please check our website for current availability
['Chaldean Oracles'] Thomas Stanley, The History of Philosophy. Containing the Lives, Opinions, Actions and Discourses of the Philosophers of every Sect .... Illustrated ... [ and ] The History of the Chaldaick Philosophy. London, W. Batterby, 1701. Third edition. Hardcover, folio, (i-xxvi), 658pp, (i-xvi) [Topographical Table], 63pp [Chaldaick Philosophy], (1), Modern half brown leather with marbled boards, black leather spine labels w/ gilt titles, etc. on spine, raised bands, fresh endpapers, 26 engraved portraits and some figures in text. Rubricated title page. Thomas Stanley (1625-1678) was a leading classicist of his time, and his History of Philosophy, first published in three parts between 1655-1660, was one of the first major English language studies of the Greek philosophers. The fourth part, The History of the Chaldaick Philosophy, was first published separately in 1662. It includes a lengthy section on 'The Chaldaick Oracles of Zoroaster', and sub-chapters on 'Astrology and the Art of Divination,' 'Material Demons,' 'Magick Natural and Theurgick,' 'Angels and Immaterial Demons,' etc. It appears to have been the first significant translation into English of the 'Chaldean Oracles,' and it is indeed this very edition (1701) that is cited by W. Wynn Westcott of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn in the bibliographic list in his own The Chaldean Oracles of Zoroaster (1895) as the earliest English language edition of the work to which he had access. Light rubbing to edges and joints, short tears to lower margin of several pages - not affecting text, neat tape repair to opposite side of title page. As often this copy lacks the frontis portrait of author, but does have all the other plates, one or two of which seem to be missing from most copies. Scattered foxing, margins browned, some pages evenly browned as is common, overall a sound near VG copy. (9921) Please check our website for current availability
Rudolf Steiner, (Translation by George Adams, M. Cotterel, C. Davy, and D. S. Osmond). Karmic Relationships. Esoteric Studies. Lectures given in Dornach, Switzerland in 1924. (4 Volumes) London: Anthroposophic Publishing Company, 1955-1957. Vols. 1, 2 and 4 First Editions; Vol. 3 Second Edition. Hardcover, large 8vo, Four volumes. 206pp & 258pp & 180pp & 146pp. Original cloth with gilt titles, etc. to spines and front cover, illustrations. The four volumes contain a total of 49 lectures given by Steiner in Switzerland during the year 1924. Light shelf dust, spines a bit faded, tiny chip to upper spine of Vol. 4, otherwise all volumes are near fine condition. No dust jackets. (24638) Please check our website for current availability
William Stirling, With a new introduction by R. A. Gilbert. The Canon. York Beach, Maine: Samuel Weiser, Inc., 1999. First Edition thus, limited and numbered. Hardcover, 8 vo, xxiv + 424 pp. Full brown leather, with decorative gilt tooling to spine, raised bands, top edge gilt, marbled endpapers. Index. Edition limited to 49 hand numbered copies of which this is number 5. First published in 1897, this is the leather bound issue of the best edition of this work. which includes an informative introduction by Hermetica scholar R. A. Gilbert. Aleister Crowley recommended the original to his students as being 'The best text-book of applied Qabalah,' and it is also regarded as one of the foundation works in the modern esoteric study of 'Sacred Geometry.' A Fine copy. (11845) Please check our website for current availability
William Tebb, Col. Edward Perry Vollum (M.D.); and Walter R. Hadwen (M.D.). Premature Burial and How it May Be Prevented. With Special Reference to Trance, Catalepsy, and other forms of Suspended Animation. London, Swan Sonnenschein & Co., Limited, 1905. Second edition. Hardcover, small 8vo, 454 pp. Original textured green cloth with gilt title, etc. to spine and front cover, bevelled edges, top edge gilt, b&w plates, biblio and index. As the title suggests, a work devoted to the subject of premature burial, and more particularly its avoidance (a not unjustifiable fear in earlier centuries). Chapters on Trance, Captalepsy, Animal and So-called Human Hibernation, Narrow Escapes from Premature Burial, Premature Burial of Doubtful Cases, The Danger of Hasty Burials, Embalming and Dissections, and 'Count Karnice-Karnicki's Invention,' a bizarre Heath Robinsonish contraption (illustrated) that would enable the not-quite-dead but nonetheless-buried to communicate their status to the living via a semaphore like system. This copy lacking the front free endpaper and frontispiece portrait of the author, but with all other plates including two of the Count's extraordinary device. The half title page is partially detached, having been sliced on the extreme inner margin, presumably when the portrait was removed. Light chafing to edges and extremities, spine a bit darkened. All else sound and bright. (15205) Please check our website for current availability
R. Campbell Thompson, Semitic Magic. Its Origins and Development. Luzac's Oriental Religious Series Vol. 3. London, England: Luzac & Co., 1908. First edition. Hardcover, large 8vo, lxiv + 288 pp, Green cloth with gilt title, etc. to spine and front cover, blind rules, index. Some pages unopened. Single page Messrs. Luzac & Co. Oriental List loosely inserted. 'Semitic Magic is a study of the magical practices - the spells, rituals, and incantations - of ancient Western Asia, the birthplace of Western civilization.' Chapters on The Demons and Ghosts, Demoniac Possession and Tabu, Sympathetic Magic, The Atonement Sacrifice, & The Redemption of the Firstborn. An authoratitive study: Thompson (1876-1941) worked variously in the Department of Egyptian and Assyrian Antiquities in the British Museum, spent nearly a quarter century excavating on their behalf in the Middle East, and later was a Professor of Semitic Languages at Chicago. Light rubbing to edges and extremities, cloth damp faded at fore-edge of both boards, and with a little corresponding discoloration to endpapers, light discoloration to fore-edge. Overall near VG without dust jacket. (149) Please check our website for current availability
Lynn Thorndike, A History of Magic and Experimental Science, Volumes VII and VIII: The 17th Century. (2 Volumes) New York, NY: Columbia University Press, 1964. Second printing. Hardcovers, large 8vo, Vol. VII x + 694pp, Vol. VIII viii + 808pp, Original green cloth, gilt titles, etc. to spine, blind stamp emblems on front boards. A part of Thorndike's landmark eight volume set, these two volumes are complete in themselves - covering the entire 17th Century. Both volumes sound, bright and unmarked. Fine condition in original glassine jackets (lightly chipped and discolored). (24429) Please check our website for current availability
Lynn Thorndike, History of Magic & Experimental Science. (8 Volume set). New York, NY: Columbia University Press, 1964. Reprint - fourth printing. Hardcover. Eight Volume Set. Large 8vos. Vol. I: xl + 836pp.; Vol. II: viii + 1036pp.; Vol. III: xxvi + 830pp.; Vol. IV: xviii + 770pp.; Vol. V: xxii + 696pp.; Vol. VI: xviii + 766pp; Vol. VII: x + 696pp. Vol. VIII: viii + 808pp. Original green cloth. Indexes & biblios. A lovely matched set of Thorndike's classic History of Magic. Vols. I & II: The First Thirteen Centuries, Vols. II & IV: Fourteenth and Fifteenth Centuries; Vols. V & VI: Sixteenth Century. Vols. VII & VIII: Seventeenth Century. Still in the original glassine jackets, this set appears unused, thus Fine condition. (The transparent glassine jackets, which unlike conventional dustjackets were intended to be discarded, are a little chipped and discolored) (31831) Please check our website for current availability
Chauncy Hare Townshend, Facts In Mesmerism, With Reasons For A Dispassionate Inquiry Into It. With an Appendix, containing the Report of the Boston Committee on Animal Magnetism. Boston, MA: Charles C. Little And James Brown, 1841. First American edition. Hardcover, 12mo, xii + 540 pp. Contemporary half leather w/ marbled boards with raised bands and gilt title etc to spine, marbled end papers, speckled page edges. The author, Rev. Chauncy Hare Townshend (1798-1868) was a friend of Charles Dickens, who shared - to lesser extent - the Reverend's interest in mesmerism, and dedicated his 'Great Expectations' to him. Chapters include 'Mesmeric Sleepwalking,''The Mesmeric Medium,' etc. Boards rubbed and chafed - particularly at edges, spine rubbed, previous owner's name on front end paper, a leaf has been excised from between the front free endpaper and the blank preceeding the title page - the missing leaf was likely another blank or half-title page (the title page is present ). Scattered light foxing - otherwise paper is remarkably fresh and text unmarked. Overall VG. (2307) Please check our website for current availability
[Various] Antonio Machado Y Álvarez, (Demófilo). [Folklore Española] Biblioteca de las Tradiciones Populares Españolas ( 11 Volumes ). Sevilla y Madrid: Alejandro Guichot y Compañia/Librería de Fernando Fé, 1883 - 1886. First Editions. Hardcover, small 8vo, 11 volumes. xiv+ 304pp & 296pp & 304pp & 320pp & xvi+ 320pp & xvi+ 288pp [ fold-out map ] & xlvi+ 238pp & xiv+ 310pp & 316pp & 304pp & 304pp. Contemporary maroon cloth with leather spine labels, gilt titling and volume nos. to spines, indexes. Text in Spanish. Vol. 1: "Tradiciones Andaluzas"; Vol. 2: "El Folk-lore de Madrid por Eugenio de Olavarria y Huarte"; Vol. 3: "Lo Maravilloso Popular El Basilisco Datos y Materiales Recogidos y Ordenados, para el Estudio del Mito por Alejandro Guichot y Sierra"; Vol. 4: "Folk-lore Gallego Miscelanea por Emilia Pardo Bazan"; Vol. 5: "Estudios sobre Literatura Popular Antonio Machado y Alvarez"; Vol. 6: " Apuntes para Un Mapa Topografico-Tradicional de la Villa de Burguillos"; Vol. 7: " Cancionero Popular Gallego y en Particular de la Provincia de la Coruna por Jose Perez Ballesteros con un Prologo del ilustre mitograio portugues Theophilo Braga (Tomo I)"; Vol. 8: "A Rosa na Vida Dos Povos por Cecilia Schmidt Branco"; Vol. 9: "Cancionero Popular Gallego y en Particular de la Provincia de la Coruna por Jose Perez Ballesteros (tomo II)"; Vol. 10: "Folk-lore Cuentos Populares de Extremadura Recogidos y Anotados por Sergio Hernandez de Soto"; Vol. 11: "Cancionero Popular Gallego y en Particular de la Provincia de la Coruna por Jose Perez Ballesteros (tomo III)". All volumes lightly rubbed at edges with a few bumps, bruised at spine ends and corners, spines rubbed, cloth lightly faded at edges, paper generally a bit browned and very slightly brittle. Otherwise all volumes are sound and unmarked. Overall VG condition. Scarce. (31980) Please check our website for current availability
Arthur Edward Waite, The Brotherhood of the Rosy Cross...... London, William Rider & Son, 1924. First edition. Hardcover, large 8vo, xxiv + 650 pp + ii pp of advertisements. Original red buckram with gilt title, etc. to spine, top edge gilt, b&w illustrations. This is the true First Issue of the book - with a mistake in the Latin text of a footnote that was corrected in a Second Issue in the same year as the first. According to Golden Dawn and Waite scholar R. A. Gilbert: 'Waite's study is, even now, the only significant historical work in English on the Rosicrucian movement of the 17th century and its successors.' Spine very slightly faded, corners and spine ends lightly chafed, endpapers toned, small kabblistic bookplate on front pastedown, light foxing to page edges, otherwise the book is extremely clean inside and out. A nice copy of a magnificently produced and important book. (31928) Please check our website for current availability
Arthur Edward Waite. The Collected Poems of Arthur Edward Waite (2 Volumes). London, England: William Rider & Son Ltd., 1914. First edition, Hardcover, two volumes, large 8vo, xxxvi + 354pp & 352pp + 8pp of reviews. Original blue cloth with gilt title, etc. to spine, blind rules. Author's inscription on the front endpaper of Volume I : "To Evelyn, With fond love and best wishes on her wedding day. Arthur Edward Waite." Waite's biographer R. A. Gilbert identifies the "Evelyn" in question as Evelyn Ogilvie Stuart-Menteath, the illustrator of Waite's 1894 publication "Belle & the Dragon", and the step-daughter of Dora Stuart-Menteath (Waite's great love). Boards lightly chafed with a few discolored spots (the worst, on the back board of the second volume). Corners and spine ends bruised and a little rubbed, spines faintly darkened, endpapers toned. Still a sound, attractive, interally bright VG set. (2399) Please check our website for current availability
William F. Warren, Paradise Found. The Cradle Of The Human Race At The North Pole, A Study of the Prehistoric World. Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin Publishing Co., 1886. Seventh edition, Inscribed . Hardcover, 8vo, 506pp. Original brown cloth, gilt title etc. to spine, b&w illustrations. Presentation copy inscribed: "Presented to the Library of the Maine Wesleyan Seminary by the Author." The author locates the Biblical Eden in the vicinity of the North Pole. From a seminary library, but no library marks save for a thumb print size mildly-discolored patch on the spine where a shelfmark was removed, and the glue residue on from a bookplate on the front pastedown. Spine ends and corners chafed. Overall a sound and unmarked VG copy. (1894) Please check our website for current availability
R. Gordon Wasson, (With an essay by Wendy Doniger O'Flaherty.) Soma Divine Mushroom Of Immortality.. (Ethno-mycological studies No. 1). New York, NY: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1968. First Trade Edition. Hardcover. sm.4to, xiv + 382 pp, Orginal blue cloth with gilt title, etc. to spine, color plates, numbered illustrations and maps, index. Wasson's investigation into the God / plant known to the Ancient Aryan' as Soma - which he identifies as the hallucinogenic mushroom fly-agaric. With an essay on 'The Post-Vedic History of the Soma Plant' by Wendy Doniger O'Flaherty. Top edge lightly speckled, otherwise a sound, bright and unmarked copy in Near Fine condition. VG+ dust jacket has very light rubbing to top edge- otherwise it is bright and fresh, not-price clipped. Book is housed in original cardboard slipcase in VG condition. General overall wear to slipcase, bottom edge tape repaired. (1942) Please check our website for current availability
J. V. S. Wilkinson (Edits etc.), The Lights of Canopus. Anvar I Suhaili. London: The Studio Limited. ND (circa 1930). First Edition. Hardcover. 8vo. x + 54pp + Thirty-six pages each with tipped-in color plates. Each plate is accompanied by descriptions of J. V. S. Wilkinson of the Oriental Manuscripts Dept. of the British Museum. A beautifully crafted book reproducing the miniatures which illustrated a book of fables produced by Hindu and Muslim artists for the early Mogul emperors. The original manuscript from which they came was compiled around 1610, and came to the British Museum "by purchase" in 1851. Original beige cloth with gilt titling, top edge gilt. Boards lightly bumped at bottom edges, corners. End papers lightly offset, few spots, previous owner's name, paper lightly browned. Overall a sound and clean VG+ copy in Good dust jacket. (Dust jacket is a bit worn and chipped at edges, spine darkened, now in protective plastic). (31229) Please check our website for current availability
[Stonehenge] Francis Wise, A Letter to Dr. Mead Concerning Some Antiquities in Berkshire .... [bound with] Further Observations upon the White Horse &c. Oxford, Thomas Wood, 1738 & [1742] . First edition. Hardcover, sm.4to, 58 + 58pp. Contemporary (?) half leather with marbled boards, rebacked with later leather spine, with older gilt-stamped leather spine label laid down. Fold-out & other plates. The First Edition of the first serious study of the origins of the White Horse in Berkshire, bound together with the author's Further Observations on the subject. With the ownership inscription of 'J. Hughes, Donnington, 1839.' According to a later pencilled note on the ffep this volume is "From [the] library of J. Hughes, father of Thos. Hughes author of Scouring of the White Horse, Tom Brown's School Day's etc." The full title of the work is A Letter to Dr. Mead Concerning Some Antiquities in Berkshire Particularly shewing that the White Horse, which gives its name to the Vale, is a Monument of the West-Saxons, made in memory of a great Victory obtained over the Danes in A.D. 871. At the rear is Mead's Further Observations upon the White Horse &c. which includes the plates (one of which is a folding panorama) but has been bound in without the separate title page. Moderate overall wear to covers commensurate with age, but binding strong and tight thanks to the reback. Some mostly-even browning to the pages, though the two plates of 'A Letter,' are remarkable fresh and unmarked. A clean, VG copy. (15902) Please check our website for current availability
c) A Few Books on Christmas & one on Hanukkah.
David Baird, A Little Brown Notebook: Christmas Stories. London, MQ Publications, 1997. First edition. Hardcover, 12mo, not paginated (approx. 200pp.), Original printed brown papered boards with matching paper, ribbons ties, b&w illustrations by Roger Langton. A selection of well-known and not so well-known Christmas stories. Fine condition. (11903) Please check our website for current availability
Mary Baker Eddy, Christ and Christmas. A Poem. Boston, MA: Allison V. Stewart, Trustee, 1917. Hardcover, oblong 8vo, not paginated (approx. 60 pp). Original gilt decorated blue cloth, gilt title etc. to upper board, blind stamp to lower board, all edges gilt, b&w illustrations by Mary Baker Eddy & James F. Gilman, color floral borders to text, glossary. A Christmas poem and aphorisms, by Mary Baker Eddy of Christian Science fame. Some rather unintentionally scary illustrations. Extremities lightly chafed, cloth slightly darkened and discolored in spots, paper lightly yellowed. Still a sound and unmarked VG+ copy. (23732) Please check our website for current availability
Max Heindel, The Mystical Interpretation of Christmas. Six Dissertations Upon the Subject of Christmas, Showing the Occult Significance of This Great Event. Oceanside, CA: Rosicrucian Fellowship, 1941. Fourth edition. Softcover. 8vo. 50pp + 12pp of adverts. Beige printed stapled wrappers. Max Heindel (1865 - 1919) was a Danish born astrologer, mystic, and occultist who moved to Los Angeles, where he joined the Theosophical Society before going on to found The Rosicrucian Fellowship in 1909. Cover edges a bit darkened, a tiny bit of light spotting to covers and a few pages, otherwise sound and unmarked. VG +. (7406) Please check our website for current availability
Alvin Boyd Kuhn, Yule and Noel. The Saga of Christmas. Wheaton, IL: The Theosophical Press, 1966. Second Edition. Stapled softcover, 8vo, 64 pp, Bright red printed wrappers. A study of the meaning of Christmas and its associated customs. Just a hint of edgewear, otherwise near fine condition. (14360) Please check our website for current availability
William Sansom, A Book of Christmas. New York, McGraw-Hill, 1968. First Edition. Hardcover, sm. 4to, 256 pp. Festive red cloth spine with printed papered boards depicting a traditional Christmas scene, printed endpapers, well illustrated in color and b&w. The author traces Christmas festival and rituals "...from their Stone Age beginnings to all parts of the world." Owner's inscription on half-title. Just a hint of rubbing and shelf dust to boards, otherwise sound and unmarked near fine copy in VG dust jacket. (Dust jacket lightly rubbed at edges, tiny chips at upper spine, price clipped). (4536) Please check our website for current availability
Theodore Silverstein, (Translator). Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. A Comedy for Christmas. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press, 1974. First Edition. Hardcover. large 8vo. 122 pp. Original bright red cloth with green endpapers, gilt titling to spine, b&w illustrations by Virgil Burnett. 'An exciting and magical story of based on ancient legends of King Arthur and the chivalric traditions of an earlier era.' A modern translation of a Middle English comic poem, by an unknown contemporary of Chaucer's. Top-edge dusty, otherwise fine condition in near fine dust jacket. (Dust jacket lightly discolored at edges otherwise quite nice, not price clipped) (4373) Please check our website for current availability
Emily Solis-Cohen, Jr. (Edits). Hanukkah. The Feast of Lights. Philadelphia, PA: The Jewish Publication Society of America, 1947. Second revised. Hardcover, large 8vo, xx + 400pp. Original light blue cloth with gilt title, etc. to spine and top board. Frontis of Hanukkah Lamp, b&w illustrations. A collection of poetry and prose exploring the Jewish festival of Hanukkah. Spine slightly faded and chafed at top and bottom, contemporary bookplate, otherwise near fine condition. No dust jacket. (23691) Please check our website for current availability
Rudolf Steiner, (Translation by D. S. Osmond). The Festivals and Their Meaning. Christmas. Eight lectures given between the years 1904 and 1921. London, England: Anthroposophical Publishing Company, 1955. First edition. Hardcover, 8vo, 118 pp, Original off white cloth with gilt title, etc. to spine and front board. Cloth slightly yellowed, spine ends lightly bruised, half-inch rough tear on top of page 36 - not affecting text, paper a lightly browned. Overall a sound and clean VG+ copy. No dust jacket. (24669) Please check our website for current availability
Rudolf Steiner, The Mysteries (Die Geheimnisse). A Christmas and Easter Poem by Goethe. A Lecture by Rudolf Steiner given at Cologne on 25th. December, 1907. London, England: Rudolf Steiner Publishing Company, 1946. First edition. Softcover, 8vo, 28 pp. Original beige printed wrappers. Stapled pamphlet format. Lightly browned, otherwise near fine condition. Scarce. (24796) Please check our website for current availability
[Laura Valentine], Aunt Louisa's Keepsake, Comprising Sing a Song o' Sixpence, Robin Hood & His Merry Men, The Robin's Christmas Eve, The Sea Side. London: Frederick Warne & Co., 1868. First Edition. Hardcover, 4to, 142pp [each printed on one side only ], original dec. cloth, gilt on upper board. A mid nineteenth century children's book, with two stories in prose and two stories in rhyme, and man splendid full page color plates: "twenty-four pages of illustrations, printed in oil colours by Kronheim and Dalziels" (the plates have the appearance of good-quality chromolithographs).
Typically, some of the textual content is rather gruesome by modern standards:
The maid was in the garden,
Hanging out the clothes;
By came a jackdaw,
And snapt off her nose.
They sent for the King's doctor,
who sewed it on again,
He sewed it on so neatly, the seam
was never seen;
And the jackdaw for his naughtiness
deservedly was slain.
One of the stories has a Christmas setting - hence the book's inclusion here. Spine rubbed, discolored and slightly frayed at head and foot, boards somewhat worn with some damp effect, some damp-discoloration to pastedowns, 2 1/2 inch closed tear to one plate, short marginal tear to another plate page, inner side of hinges split but holding, corners worn, endpapers foxed, occasional marks and offsetting to some pages. This aside the color plates are quite clean and bright; and the whole is in unusually good condition for a children's book of this vintage. (29639) Please check our website for current availability
d) About this catalog & how to purchase from it.
This is Weiser's 80th year of business as specialist sellers of esoteric books and for many decades the company
issued printed catalogs, however, the high costs involved brought an end to these, and for the last five years we
have listed books on various internet book-sites and directly on to our own website:http://www.weiserantiquarian.com Whilst we will continue to add new
stock weekly to the 13,000 books currently listed on our website, we will also post occasional catalogs such as this
on-line.
These catalogs will give us the opportunity to present collections or groups of related items in a more detailed and
sympathetic context than the normal website allows, and will also enable us to give our established customers first
choice at some of the more interesting new arrivals, as well as to offer them 'special' or bargain items. The items
in this catalog will not be advertised elsewhere - in the main body of our website or on other bookselling sites -
until at least a week after the catalogs have been posted on-line. If you would like to be notified by email when
we post a new catalog on-line, please send an email with 'subscribe' in the subject line to books@weiserantiquarian.com You can have your name removed from the
list at any time, simply by asking, and of course we will not re-supply your details to anyone.
Please keep in mind that in most cases we only have one copy of the book listed available for sale, and that it is
therefore advisable to order promptly if you wish to secure it.
The books can be ordered by telephone, mail, fax (please telephone before sending a fax), or email. When ordering a
book please tell us the author, title, and, most importantly, the 'unique book number' (that is the number in
brackets next to the price) of the book or books you wish to purchase. Postage and insurance, where applicable,
will be charged to the purchaser at cost.
We will advise promptly whether the book or books you ordered are still available, and the postage options.
Customers from within the United States may pay by Credit Card (Visa, Mastercard, or Amex), money order, or check
(or in-person by cash). Overseas customers can pay by Credit Card, or by International Money Order or Bank Draft
payable in U.S. dollars.
Please contact us if you have any queries. Our email for enquiries or orders is:
books@weiserantiquarian.com
or you can telephone us on: 207-363-7253
If calling from overseas please dial your international access code, followed by the country code for the US (1) and
then 207-363-7253.
As our business is 95% internet / phone / and mail-order we do not keep regular 'shop hours.' However, we are
usually available to answer queries between 10am and 4pm, weekdays, EST (Eastern Standard Time) that is the same
time zone as Boston. If calling long distance a useful time conversion chart can be found at:
Worldclock or you can safely leave a message on our answering
machine at any time.
Our Previous Catalogs
Copies of our previous catalogs are now accessible on-line via our Catalog Archive Page:
http://www.weiserantiquarian.com/catalogarchivepage
Please note that these are 'old,' out-of-date catalogs and are primarily stored for interest’s sake only. Most of the books listed in them have already sold.
Those that are still available will be listed on our main website: http://www.weiserantiquarian.com or you can inquire direct by
email.
Weiser Antiquarian Books
P.O. Box 2050
York Beach, ME, 03910-2050
USA.
The Text and Images on this page are © Weiser Antiquarian Books, 2006.
No reproduction without permission please.
Last Updated Monday December 25, 2006.