Abraham the Jew on Magic Talismans; ( To be engraven on the Seals of Rings made of various metals, under the influence of the Fixed Stars and the Twenty-eight Mansions of the Moon ).
York Beach, Maine, USA: Teitan Press, 2011. First Edition. Hardcover. Small Quarto. xvi + 46pp (vi), MS 40pp. Bound in high quality black cloth, with a gilt design stamped on the front cover, blind rules, and gilt title etc. on the spine. Printed on acid free paper, sewn, Color frontispieces. Edition limited to 650 numbered copies. The text of a previously-unpublished manuscript by Frederick Hockley, compiled by him circa. 1831 - 1833, and drawn largely from an earlier work of the same title, probably by Francis Barrett. The manuscript deals with the creation of talismans, and is divided into two parts, the first of which details methods for their manufacture "under the fixed stars" and the second "under the twenty-eight mansions of the moon." Both sets of concepts were popular in mediaeval and later European astrological and magical practice, having apparently been incorporated into them from Arabic astronomical and astrological treatises composed during the "Golden Age" of Arabic science from the middle of the eighth to the middle of the thirteenth centuries. This first published edition comprises an Introduction in which Silens Manus explores the history of the manuscript, and its relationship with other early magical works, notably those of Cornelius Agrippa. It also includes a loosely inserted four page "Addendum" by Hockley scholar Alan Thorogood, who reveals more about the history of "Abraham the Jew on Magic Talismans," including the discovery that Hockley's work is largely drawn from an earlier manuscript that is bound together with the original manuscript of Frances Barrett's "The Magus," suggesting that the text from which Hockley drew was probably compiled by Barrett himself (a copy of the "Addendum" is available as a free download on the Teitan Press website for those who purchased the book before the "Addendum" was released). The Introduction is followed by a typeset transcription of the text of the manuscript, with explanatory footnotes, etc., and a reproduction of various relevant passages from the 1651 edition of Agrippa's "Three Books of Occult Philosophy," which are without doubt the principal source of the Barrett / Hockley "Abraham." The final section is a facsimile of the original Hockley manuscript, printed on special coated paper that gives a photograph like quality to the reproduction. Frederick Hockley (1809-1885), was an occultist and Freemason with an interest in Spiritualism who in later life was associated with the Societas Rosicruciana in Anglia. Hockley's peers considered him to be one of the great occult scholars of his time in fact he was held in such high regard by one of the founders of the Golden Dawn, W. Wynn Westcott, that he posthumously claimed Hockley as one of the Order's most outstanding Adepts. NEW book, fine condition. No dust jacket issued. Item #40294
ISBN: 9780933429246
Price: $60.00