L'Art De Connaitre L'Avenir Par La Chiromancie, Les Horoscopes, Les Divinations Anciennes, Le Marc De Cafe, Etc.
Bruxelles: Société Belge de Librairie, 1845. First Edition Thus. Hardcover. Duodecimo ( 5 3/4 x 3 1/2 inches). 1 - 8, 1 - 120pp; Old grey cloth binding, with original front and back wrappers laid over the boards. Frontispiece, vignette on title-page and numerous illustrations in text. FRENCH text. Series title: "Bibliothèque du destin, encyclopédie des sciences occultes" at front. A small work on divination, largely devoted to astrology and palmistry, but also canvasing some of the more obscure methods of fortune-telling, such as divination by coffee grounds. The book appears to have been simultaneously published in Paris and in Brussels - Caillet only lists the Paris edition of the same year (Caillet: 6796). "Bibliotheca Esoterica" also mentions only the Paris edition, although its authors add that while the work was sometimes attributed to l'Abbe Constant ("Éliphas Lévi") the French bibliographers Querard and Lorenz assign it to an author named Lorambert [who is also known for his tarot cards] but without giving further information about him ("Bibliotheca Esoterica", 4950). The work was originally issued in wrappers, the front and back panels have been trimmed and pasted onto the boards when the book was rebound in cloth, presumably in the early twentieth century. Owner's details and acquisition date (April 1952) of one George Henry Lark above his pictorial book-label ("May the wrath of Saturn Fall Upon the One who Takes This Book from the Library of George Henry Lark") on the front paste-down. Wrappers somewhat chipped, a little shadowing to title-page, page corners gently rounded or creased. A few pencil annotations. Small separation between frontispiece and title-page (an artefact of the binding). Still a solid, clean VG+ copy of an unusual work. Item #59489
Price: $95.00