A Cunning Man's Grimoire. The Secret of Secrets being Rawlinson MS. D. 253.
Singapore: Abbeville Press, 2018. First Edition, Deluxe. Hardcover. Small quarto. (10 1/4 x 7 1/4 inches). 178pp. Quarter leather with gilt lettered cloth boards, b&w illustrations. Edition limited to 150 copies SIGNED by Stephen Skinner on the limitation page, this being copy no. 128. From Golden Hoard on the contents: "This manuscript is a grimoire, a manual of practical magic, a sorcerer’s handbook. It is a composite grimoire drawn from a number of different sources. It is not the sort of grimoire which has a complete method of calling up a set register of spirits, like the Goetia, nor does it have a wide range of pentacles or talismans like the Key of Solomon. It is however quite special as it was also was a practising Cunning man's grimoire, a very interesting blend of learned and local village magic. It also contains a lot of critical astrological information (including its own set of astrological tables) which are an important part of magic, but which don’t feature to a large extent in other grimoires. It goes way beyond Planetary days and hours, to detailed aspects of timing and also contains magical operations connected with the 28 Mansions of the Moon and image magic, which were usually absent from Solomonic grimoires. The 28 Mansions of the Moon belong to a different magical tradition which owes its origins to Arabic and Indian roots, rather than the Greek roots of Solomonic magic. This manuscript literally stands at the crossroads of several different magical streams." NOTE PLEASE NOTE: "As NEW", although being hand-bound in Asia using genuine leather it does have the occasional usual minor imperfections to both the binding and the leather (as unavoidable). Else a clean, bright Fine copy (no dust jacket issued). One of the scarcest Golden Hoard Press deluxes due to its tiny limitation. Item #74634
ISBN: 9781912212118
Price: $350.00