Theurgia or The Egyptian Mysteries by Iamblichos; Reply of Abammon, the Teacher to The Letter of Porphyry to Anebo. Together with Solutions of the Questions Therein Contained
Greenwich Connecticut: American School of Metaphysics, 1915. First Edition Thus. Hardcover. Large octavo. 284pp. Original navy cloth with blind borders and gilt titling to upper board and gilt titling and rules to spine, gold patterned endpapers, top edge gilt. A handsome edition of this important translation of the third-Century A.D. student of Porphyry, Iamblichus, one of the most important of the group of Neo-Platonists that embraced magical practices as a part of their quest for spiritual development, and quest for a return to the 'source.' His treatise, 'Theurgia, or The Egyptian Mysteries,' describes the practices, philosophy, and cosmology of a form of Divinely-sanctioned 'high magic.' The book had a profound influence on the thought of Agrippa, Bruno, Ficino, and others, and has sometimes been heralded as one of the source-works for modern Western neo-pagan thought. As far as we can determine this is the first actual US-published edition: an earlier edition (1911) was published by William Rider & Son Ltd. in London, with the The Metaphysical Publishing Co., New York, as co-publishers, but this is the first edition to bear only a US publisher's imprint. Just a hint of shelf wear, spine ends and corners lightly bruised and chafed with some minute fraying to upper spine, pages very lightly toned but clean and unmarked. Overall a tight, clean VG+ copy (no dust jacket). Quite scarce. Item #67352
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