The Paradoxical Emblems of Dionysius Andreas Freher.
Edinburgh, Scotland: Magnum Opus Hermetic Sourceworks, 1983. Limited edition. Hardcover. Small Octavo. 170pp. Hand bound in brown faux-leather, b&w llustrations. Edition limited to 250 copies. Signed by Adam McLean. Magnum Opus Hermetic Sourceworks series No. 16. A collection of 153 Emblems executed by Dionysius Andreas Freher (1649 - 1728) a Christian mystic and writer on alchemy, best known for his writings on Jacob Boehme. The emblems, each of which are accompanied by a short text, are sequential. McLean observes that each "focuses on a simple fundamental spiritual statement," but that they also form a sequence, and can serve as a "coherent integrated system of interior exercises." The present volume reproduces the emblems, with English-language captions, from Add. Ms. 5789 in the British Library: "Paradoxa, Emblemata, Aenigmata, Hieroglyphica, de Uno, Toto, Puncto, Centro. Done originally by Dionysius Andreas Freher." They are accompanied by an Introduction by McLean and an Appendix with the original Latin text. First edition, early issue: the paper on which it is printed is a buff colour, it has a low number in the sequence of limitation, and the binding is a dark brown with the title lettered down the spine reading "The Paradoxical Emblems of Freher" A few spots to the endpapers, light rubbing to the boards, page edges darkened. Still a tight clean VG+ copy. Item #58931
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