The Secret Grimoire of Turiel. The Rites of Ceremonial Magick.
New York: Samuel Weiser Inc, 1971. First US Edition. Hardcover. Octavo. 42pp. Black cloth with gilt titling to spine. B&w Illustrations. The first US edition of this unusual grimoire. The introduction to the book recounts a complex story in which a de-frocked Priest offered an original sixteenth century Latin manuscript of the grimoire for sale, along with an English translation of it, in 1927. The editor supposedly purchased the translation of the work, which describes a system of ceremonial magic, and which he here published as "The Secret Grimoire of Turiel." Recent research, however, reveals that the text is actually drawn from a manuscript compiled by the nineteenth century English occultist Frederick Hockley, using earlier sources. The book was first published in softcover (only) by the Aquarian Press, in England, in 1960. In 1971 the Aquarian Press arranged to collaborate on a joint hardcover edition with Samuel Weiser of New York. To save costs all the copies were printed in the UK, and the US and UK editions were identical, with the only difference being that the US edition had Weiser's details on the title-page and the spine. Corners lightly bruised, edges of text block at little darkened, otherwise a tight, clean, VG+ copy (lacks dust jacket). Item #70559
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