The Magus, or Celestial Intelligencer, Parts I - IX (9 Volumes, complete set); The Rare Text Library. "The First Principles of Natural Magic, The Magus Part I"; "The True Secret of the Philosopher's Stone , or The Jewel of Alchymy, The Magus, Part II"; "The Celestial Intelligencer, or Talismanic Magic, The Magus, Part III"; "Magnetism, The Magus, Part IV"; "The Cabala; Or The Secret Mysteries Of Ceremonial Magic, The Magus, Part V" ; "The Perfection and Key of the Cabala, or Ceremonial Magic - Illustrated, The Magus, Part VI"; "Of The Particular Composition Of The Magical Circle, The Magus, Part VII"; "The Magic and Philosophy of Trithemius of Spanheim, The Magus, Part VIII" ; "Biographia Antiqua, The Magus, Part IX"
Gloucester, England: Rare Text Library / Helios, 1964, 1965, 1966. First Editions Thus. Hardcovers. Nine volumes, complete set. Quartos. Original gilt-block beige canvas spines with crimson "elephant hide" patterned papered boards, printed title label on upper board. Black and white plates and diagrams and five hand-coloured illustrations. Text mimeographically reproduced from a typescript, with plates and title-pages in facsimile of the original. A rare complete set of this series of nine volumes comprising the magical components of Francis Barrett's "The Magus." Edition limited to 200 numbered copies, each hand numbered on the limitation page (differing numbers as always, as the volumes were sold individually over a number of years). The volumes are: "Introduction to the Study of Natural Magic, The Magus Part I" vi + 96pp. (1964); "The True Secret of the Philosopher's Stone , or Jewel of Alchymy, The Magus, Part II", vii + 32pp ( 1964); "The Constellatory Practice or Talismanic Magic,[ The Celestial Intelligencer ], The Magus, Part III", viii +171pp + ii plates (1964); "Magnetism, The Magus, Part IV", vi + 44pp (1965); "The Perfection and Key of The Cabala; The Magus, Part V, viii +65pp + iv colour plates of demons, b&w plates (1965); "Secret Mysteries of Ceremonial Magic, - Illustrated, The Magus, Part VI" viii+ 55pp. (1965); "Of The Particular Composition Of The Magical Circle, The Magus, Part VII", viii + 40pp + colour frontis and b&w plate (1965); "The Magic and Philosophy of Trithemius of Spanheim, The Magus, Part VIII", vi+ 63pp, b&w frontis (1966); "Biographia Antiqua, The Magus, Part IX", vi + 94pp. ( 1966). The individual books comprise volumes 3 through volume 11 of the "Rare Text Library of Philosophical Research" published by Helios Book Services of Gloucester, England, one of the pioneers of occult publishing in the UK in the 1960s. "The Magus" was first published in 1801 and is now recognised as one of the most influential works of the "Occult Revival" and probably the best-known magical text produced in nineteenth century Britain. At the time of the publication of this series "The Magus" was long out of print, with early editions difficult to find and selling for a premium. The idea behind the new edition was to make the most important sections of the text - each complete within itself - available in a durable form at an affordable price. It was a monumental task, with the text having to be completely retyped, and the tables redone - only the original diagrams were copied as facsimiles. The plates are hand-coloured with water-colours, as were those in the original edition. Rare original mimeographed doubled-sided quarto prospectus loosely inserted. The set is even scarcer than its limitation etc. would suggest as the volumes are perfect bound (glued) and unless stored properly tended to fall apart. A bit of light bruising to boards at extremities, cloth and title labels a little darkened. Some foxing to the cloth spines (as common with these volumes). Most volumes have a previous owner's blind stamp on the first blank / limitation page and Part II has a previous owner's name and acquisition date on the front free endpaper and a booklate on the front pastedown. Overall a lovely clean VG+ example of this very scarce set. Item #69467
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