The Sixth and Seventh Books of Moses. The Mystery of all Mysteries. The Citation on all Spirits, ..... Healing by Amulets. The Wonderful Magical and Spirit Arts of Moses and Aaron......Contains One Hundred and Twenty-Five Seals and Talismans.
Chicago: The de Laurence Company, ND (circa 1970's?). Reprint. Hardcover. Octavo. 190pp, b&w illustrations. Textured brown faux leather with gilt title and design to cover and spine. Despite being of relatively recent origin - most scholars suggest it first began to appear in manuscript form in the 18th century - "The Sixth and Seventh Books of Moses" is arguably one of the most influential of all the grimoires. It contains a series of magical incantations, spells and seals purportedly from the lost magical Books of the Biblical prophet Moses. The work apparently originated in Germany and then spread to America via the Pennsylvania Dutch, and their "pow-wow" books. It began to appear in print in the late nineteenth century, and became popular in the African American South and also in the Caribbean, and West Africa, making its mark on the Hoodoo, Rastifarian, and various African religious movements, as well as on European and American occultists. This edition was published by Lauron William de Laurence (1868 - 1936), renowned book pirate, plagiarist, and publisher of occult literature. For all his faults and eccentricities de Laurence played an important part in the occult history of the USA: he was a pioneer in selling occult books and supplies by mail order, and the books that he published were received with great fervor by many in the American occult community. Like many de Laurence publications this volume is undated. The typography is clearly that of an early edition - probably a reprint of a volume from the first quarter of the twentieth century - but the binding suggests that it is relatively recent, perhaps from the 1970s. Page edges a bit darkened, very slight bruising and chafing to lower spine, old NYC Weiser bookshop label on bottom of front pastedown. Overall a bright, clean near-Fine copy. (no dust jacket as issued). Item #65768
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