The Art of Talismanic Magic: Being Selections from the Works of Rabbi Solomon, Agrippa, F. Barrett etc.
NP (England): NP [The Author], ND (Circa 1885). "Fifth Edition" Hardcover. Small Quarto. 104pp. Deep green textured cloth boards, with gilt title etc. to spine. The book was first published in 1879 by the astrologer Robert T. Cross (1850-1923), who wrote under the psedonym "Raphael" and who prepared the manuscript, which was then duplicated, probably using the hectographic process. It seems that the print runs were tiny - and that Cross may have exaggerated the number of printings so as to make the work seem more popular than it was. We can only locate references to a first edition (unstated), a third edition, and a fifth edition, the three of which were apparently produced between 1879 and 1885. Any of these original Cross editions are rare - WorldCat only locates a handful of copies in libraries globally. The manuscript was itself drawn largely from a manuscript translation of "The Key or Clavis of Rabbi Solomon" that had belonged to Ebenezer Sibly (c. 1749- c. 1800), to which was added some extra material from the work of Cornelius Agrippa and Francis Barrett. The text is best known from the edition republished by Lauron William de Laurence (1868 - 1936), renowned book pirate, plagiarist, and publisher of occult literature under the title "Raphael's Ancient Manuscript of Talismanic Magic" in 1916, and often reprinted. Original cloth boards unevenly faded and a bit darkened and rubbed, with a number of pin-holes and tiny chips (ancient insect damage?) down the rear cloth hinge. Corners bruised. Page edges and endpages unevenly browned. A little very pale foxing. Overall a tight, internally clean near-VG copy of an unusual edition that is missing from most serious magic and grimoire collections due to its scarcity. Item #69514
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