Grimoirium Verum by Plangiere (Translator) - 1994

Paris: Saintin, 1816. Hardcover. See Description. 16mo. 78pp. With color frontispiece and 24 plates of handwriting samples from various personages. Contemporary calf back with paste paper boards. Some rubbing along the hinges. Pages clean. Contents include: "1. D'un essai sur l'art de juger les homes sur leurstyle; 2. Des ecritures de Louis XVI, de la reine Marie-Antoinette et du Dauphin, etc.; 3. D'un alphabet curieux des Sourds et Muets avec lequel on peut apprendre en quelques heures a converser avec eux." Includes material on sign language for deaf mutes. [Barbier I, 289 - citing the 1812 ed. Caillet 5197 - citing the 1812 and 1820 editions].

1863 GHOSTS 1ed Discovery Ghouls Occult Spirits George Cruikshank Caricature Art
George Cruikshank was one of the most prolific book illustrators of 19th-century England. His caricature illustrations most famously appeared in some of the works of Charles Dickens. He regularly depicted English life and satirized politics and social customs, especially slavery and abolitionist reforms. Being disturbed by the American spiritualist and séance fad going around he applied his satire to the idea of ghosts claiming that clearly it was all a hoax as ghosts always appear clothed and for that to be true clothes would have to be a part of the soul, which can only be absurd.

This 1863 first edition includes 9 black and white woodcuts of varying sizes throughout!

Item number: #14399
Price: $750
CRUIKSHANK, George (illust.)
A Discovery concerning Ghosts; with a rap at the "Spirit-Rappers".
London: Frederick Arnold, [1863]. First edition

Details:
· Collation complete with all pages:
o 48
o 9… Read More

1698 Zodiacus Vitae EXISTENCE of ANGELS Occult Demons Zodiac Palingenius BANNED

Marcellus Palingenius was a 16th-century Neapolitan poet who is primarily known for his book 'Zodiacus Vitae'. When Palingenius first published this book in the 1530s, he penned the name Pier Angelo Manzolli as the author as he (correctly) anticipated that would become one of the many books to be banned by the Catholic Church during the Inquisition on the Prohibited Books Index.
'Zodiacus Vitae' was written to articulate the sources of human happiness as it pertains to metaphysics. Though, in doing so, Palingenius managed to attack the traditions of the church – not just the Catholic Church and the popes – but also the theology of Martin Luther. Each of the twelve sections represents one of the zodiac signs each of which contain fascinating discussions. For example, in the seventh book, Palingenius "argues for the existence of angels" and demons! (Beckwith)

Item number: #17684
Price: $550
MANZOLLI, Pier Angelo [i.e.… Read More

copy no 20

1842 Ingoldsby Legends Ghost Stories Occult Myths Leech Tenniel Cruikshank ART
Under the penname Thomas Ingoldsby, R.H. Barham wrote the, now famous, 'Ingoldsby Legends.' This work is collection of myths, ghost stories, fables, and poetry. Immediately popular, these "legends" would go onto be read and reprinted well over a century. Illustrated by the beloved John Leech, John Tenniel, and George Cruikshank, this collection includes famous tales such as The Spectre of Tappington, The Witches' Frolic, The Jackdaw of Rheims, Aunt Fanny, The Smuggler's Leap, and much more!
Item number: #40338
Price: $599
INGOLDSBY, Thomas (BARHAM, Richard Harris)
The Ingoldsby Legends or Mirth and Marvels
London: Richard Bentley, 1842-47.

Details:
· Collation: Complete; 3 volumes
o
Vol. I – xii, 338, [2]
8 illustrations
1846, 3rd edition
o
Vol. II – vii, [3], 288
7 illustrations
1842, 2nd edition
o
Vol. III – vi, [2], 364
6 illustrations
1847, 1st edition
· Edition Points:
o
Vol.… Read More

Utrecht: Franciscum Halma, 1687 Original full leather, still in good condition, rebacked in calf preserving original spine. Contents complete in 3 sections with 43 text illustrations and 6 folding plates (one torn). The first part of the book covers Harpocrates - 180 pages. The second section has a separate title page 'Gisberti Cuperi Monumenta Antiqua Inedita and follows in in page numbering. The third section has a new title page 'Stephani le Moine ad Gisb. Cuperum de Melanophoris Epistola' and again follows on in page numbering. This section is written in greek and hebrew as well as Latin. Very bright and clean throughout. Deals with the cult of the Egyptian god Horus in the Roman world, detailing rights, beliefs and monuments. A spectacular book mainly due to the number and quality of the text and folding engravings. Small 8vo but wider pages than is normal.294 pages plus an 'index auctorum' and an 'index rerum' and an errata list.

Paris: Francois Clovsier, 1667. Second Edition. . Hardcover. See Description. 8vo. pp. [8], 212. With 90 engraved plates most of which contain 16 palmistry figures. Several plates contain a whole palm illustrated. Bound in full period calf; re-backed preserving original gilt spine. Boards show rubbing and wear; board corners are neatly restored. Top edge of book block is a bit rubbed. Interior contains some marginal soiling and foxing; several areas of marginal worming and worm tracks are present in the upper and lower margins (interrupting the running title on a couple of pages). The upper portion of the book also contains some damp staining which is generally mild. A tear, part way across one plate, is professionally sealed and hardly noticeable. Some plates contain light printer’s smudging. This treatise, first printed in 1665, has been called one of the most comprehensive 17th century books on palmistry. [Cette ouvrage, l’un des meilleurs traités de chiromancie du XVIIe… Read More

London: The Aquarian Press, 1962. First Edition. . Hardcover. See Description. Small 8vo. pp. xi, [1], 7-112. Bound in publisher’s pale gray-green cloth. The binding is clean and tight with only the most miniscule signs of bumping to the upper corner tip of the front board. The dust jacket is price clipped on the inner flap and shows spots of wear and rubbing to the extremities. The head cap of the jacket spine is chipped (15 x 13 mm). The rear jacket displays some mild soiling and a couple of small tears (sealed). An ink stamp from the U.S. distributer Wehman Bros. ("Wehman Bros. Publishers 159 Main Street Hackensack, N.J") is present in the lower margin of the title page. Interior pages are generally clean. Pages 92-93 contain a small, light manufacturing smudge. Doreen Valiente (1922-1999), often called "the mother of modern witchcraft" was a founding figure in the contemporary Wicca movement. During the 1950’s, while she served as high priestess in Gerald… Read More

A la Haye: Pierre Paupie 1769-1770, 1769. Hardcover. See Description. 12mo. 7 volumes. Title pages printed inside a decorative border. Bound in full period calf with gilt spines. All text block edges are dyed red. Rubbing and wear is present to the bindings; the outer joints on several volumes are neatly and professionally restored. Volume II is slightly leaning in the binding. The head cap and the bottom panels of the spine to volume III are carefully repaired with some loss of gilding; the spine label to volume III is lacking and the board edges also contain spots of restoration. The interior pages of this set are generally crisp with minimal age-toning, foxing, spotting etc. An occasional minor marginal chip or tiny tear is present. Volume II reveals faint damp staining on the lower inner margins. Volume V contains a short worm track in the upper margins of the first 30 pages; two tiny worm holes (or on some leaves a small worm track) are present in the bottom margins, near the outer corners… Read More

London: Privately Printed, 1894. Hardcover. See Description. Tall 4to. (32.5 cm), pp. [4], xvi, 254 with 40 plates and a facsimile of the 1786 title page. Large paper copy #19 of 50 from a limited edition of 500.The preface states: "the present edition, an exact reproduction of that of 1865, but correcting some manifest misprints, is published in the interest of science and scholarship." Bound in later plain black cloth showing rubbing and wear to extremities and to the spine caps. The first few leaves including the title contain a small dark stain near the upper edge. Pages show periodic smudging/soiling; several plates have a damp stain on the outer edge of the margin; occasional edge tears are professionally sealed; 3-4 leaves are carefully tipped back in to place. Richard Payne Knight (1750-1824) was a classical scholar, mythologist and a collector of antiquities. His "Discourse on the worship of Priapus" was first published in London, 1786. Knight argues that a universal… Read More