antiquariaat FORUM & ASHER Rare Books

Alchemy, Astrology & Occult

Antiquariaat FORUM BVTuurdijk 163997 ms ‘t Goy – HoutenThe NetherlandsPhone: +31 (0)30 6011955Fax: +31 (0)30 6011813E–mail: info@forumrarebooks.comWeb: www.forumrarebooks.com www.forumislamicworld.com

ASHER Rare BooksTuurdijk 163997 ms ‘t Goy – HoutenThe NetherlandsPhone: +31 (0)30 6011955Fax: +31 (0)30 6011813E–mail: info@asherbooks.comWeb: www.asherbooks.com

Alchemy, Astrology & Occulte-catalogue

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v 1.1 · 23 Aug 2016cover image: no. 3

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Key work of Arabic astrologer1. A LBUM A SA R (Abu Ma’shar al-Balkhi Ja’Far ibn Muhammad). Introductorium in astronomiam Albumasaris abalachi octo continens libros partiales.(Colophon: Venice, Giacomo Penzio for Melchiorre Sessa, 5 September 1506). 4to (21×15 cm). With woodcut illustration on title-page, Sessa’s woodcut crowned cat and mouse device below colophon, 8 woodcut planet and 12 woodcut zodiac figures in the text (plus 21 repeats), a woodcut astrological diagram, another diagram made of rules and letterpress text), numerous woodcut decorated initials (3 series). Set in 3 sizes of rotunda gothic type, that of the main text with planet symbols. Mid-19th-century sheepskin, gold-tooled spine. € 25.000

An early and attractive edition of a key astrological work. Of all the Arabic writers on astrology, the most imposing is Ja’far ibn Muhammad Abû Ma’shar al-Balkhî (ca. 787–886), known in the West as Albumasar. The present 12th-century Latin translation by John of Seville of his “al-Madkhal al-kabir ilá ‘ilm ahkam al-nujum” (Great introduction to the science of astrology) was first published at Augsburg in 1489.Small early ink stamp on title-page, early manuscript index at end, written on endleaves from the first binding; some early marginalia and underlinings in two different early hands. From the library of Nicolas Yemeniz (1783–1871), with pencilled lot number 969, and with the large armorial bookplate of William Stirling-Maxwell (1818–1878). Binding slightly dirty, occasional insignificant mark internally; overall a very good copy.

Adams A567; Cat. de la Bibl. de . N. Yemeniz, Paris, 1867, lot 969 (this copy); Isaac 12913; Gaselee, Early printed books in Corpus Christi Cambridge, 166; Edit 16, CNCE 822.

Using optics to explain how people see ghosts2. BROW N, J.H. Brown’s kleurvisioenen met een woord ter aanwijzing en verklaring.Leeuwarden, Hugo Suringar, [1866]. 4to. With 16 numbered litho-graphed plates (13 hand-coloured) lithographed by Morriën & Amand, Amsterdam. Original illustrated green cloth-backed boards, flyleaves with publishers advertisements. € 1.750

Rare first edition of the Dutch translation of J.H. Brown’s Spectropia, or sur-prising spectral illusions (1864), using the 19th-century knowledge of optics to explain how people see ghosts. A second edition was published ca. 1870.As described in the (original) introduction: “ To see the spectres, it is only necessary to look steadily at the dot, or asterisk, which is to be found on each of the plates, for about a quarter of a minute,.. Then turning the eyes to the ceiling… of a darkened room (not totally dark), and looking rather steadily at any one point, the spectre will soon being to make its appearance, increasing in intensity, and then gradually vanishing, to reappear and vanish again.”Some occasional spots, book block nearly detached and wrappers slightly soiled and rubbed. Good copy.

Landwehr, Plezier met papier 315; cf. NCC (5 copies of 2nd edition).

Standard work on iatrochemistry, helping to make a science of alchemy

3. CROLL , Oswald. Basilica chymica continens. Philosophicam propria[m] laborum experientia[m] confirmatam descriptionem et usum remediorum chymicorum selectissimorum é lumine gratiae et naturae desumptorum.Including: CROLL , Oswald. [Divisional title:] Tractatus de signa-turis internis rerum, ...Frankfurt am Main, Godfried Tampach, [1611]. 2 parts plus laudatory verses in 1 volume. 4to. With a richly engraved general title-page by Aegidius Sadeler including the portraits of 6 famous alchemists: Hermes Trismegistus, Geber (Jabir ibn Hayyan), Roger Bacon, Paracelcus, Ramon Llull and Morienus Romanus of Jerusalem. 17th-century vellum. € 3.000

Rare second(?) edition by the original publisher and in the original Latin, of the most important work of the chemist, alchemist and physician Oswald Croll (1580–1609). It mixes chemical and spiritual means of healing, following Paracelsus both by supporting the theory that man is a micro-cosmos incorporating the universe, and by the 80-page second part on the doctrine of signatures, which suggests that herbs resembling parts of the human body can be used to treat ailments of that part. The Basilica chymica provides the reader with a large number of secret alchemical recipes and information about curative objects. The Basilica chymica quickly became and remained the standard scientific work on iatrochemistry, a branch of both chemistry and medicine, rooted in alchemy and seeking to provide chemical solutions to diseases and medical ailments.With owners’ inscriptions and early manuscript notes. Slightly browned, with chips in the fore-edge of the first two leaves, occasional minor stains and spots, but otherwise in good condition. Binding with stains and a couple cuts but structurally sound. An essential work for both alchemy and the birth of modern medical chemistry.

Duveen, p. 150; Partington II, pp. 174–177; cf. Thorndike V, pp. 649–651; for Croll: DSB III, pp. 471–472.

The conjuror unmasked4. DECR EMPS, Henri. La magie blanche dévoilée, ou explication des tours surprenans qui sont depuis peu l›admiration de la capitale & de la province.Paris, Liège, Brussels, F.J. Desoer, 1789–1791. 5 volumes. 8vo. With 2 engraved frontispieces, 3 frontispieces with letterpress text and a woodcut, 184 woodcuts (several full-page) in the text and 2 folding tables. 3. Near contemporary green half sheepskin, gold-tooled spines. € 4.500

Rare complete set (second edition?) of Decremps’s popular work on conjuring and physics tricks, first published in 1784. Henri Decremps (1746–1826), a Parisian lawyer and amateur conjuror, sought to unmask Giovanni Giuseppe Pinetti, the most celebrated magician of the 18th century. Pinetti had gained fame as a flamboyant performer, but Decremps considered him a charlatan who cheated people for personal profit. In the first volume Decremps unveils several of his most famous tricks, including one named “Theophrastus Paracelsus”, involving a pigeon supposedly being beheaded, a mechanical singing bird, an automaton chess-player and a dancing egg that jumps out of a hat. The frontispiece in vol. 1 shows the magician throwing a deck of cards in the air and nailing shooting a card with a pistol. As a reaction to Decremps’s attack Pinetti published his own instruction book, Physical amusements, and prepared a new show. Decremps then published a supplement revealing Pinnetti’s latest tricks, followed by three subse-quent volumes almost entirely devoted to physics tricks: Testament de Jérome Sharp, Les petites aventures de Jérome Sharp and finally Codicile de Jérome Sharp. Decremps’s work proved very popular: it was reprinted and translated numerous of times. Sets comprising all five volumes are rare.In very good condition. A rare complete set of an important conjuring book, in lovely uniform near contemporary bindings.

Cf. Caillet 2861–2864 (first eds); Hall, Old Conjuring Books, pp. 156–158, 174; Christopher, Magic: a picture history, pp. 28–31.

Faulhaber’s mystical arithmetics, pyramidal numbers as key to biblical prophecies

5. FAULH A BER, Johann. Andeutung, einer unerhörten newen Wunderkunst. Welche der Geist Gottes, in etlichen Prophetischen, und Biblischen Geheimnuss Zahlen, bis auff die letzte Zeit hat wöllen versiegelt und verborgen halten.Ulm, Lorentz Miller; Nuremberg, Abraham Wagenmann, 1613. 4to. 19-century half cloth. € 3.750

First edition of one of the mystical arithmetic works by the well-known German mathe-matician and alchemist Johann Faulhaber (1580–1635). A Latin translation appeared in the same year. Faulhaber’s earlier attempts to interpret the Bible with mathematics caused him to be thrown in jail, after he wrongly predicted the ending of the world in 1605. He was soon released and published several other works with a similar approach, including this one where he concludes that pyramidal numbers are the key to God’s biblical prophecies.With the 20th-century bookplate of Karin Figala. Reasonable copy, with the first and last page slightly soiled, a small restoration to the title-page, some foxing, minor stains and a few marginal annotations.

BLC STC German (17th cent.) F-234; DSB IV, pp. 550; WorldCat (4 copies); cf. Koetsier & Bergmans, Mathematics and the divine, pp. 311–328.

Johann Hollander and the philosopher’s stone7. HOLL A NDUS, Johannes Isaac. Opera mineralia, sive de lapide philosophico, omnia, duobus libris comprehensa.Middelburg, Richard Schilders, 1600. 8vo. With dozens of small woodcut illustrations in the text. Contemporary vellum; in modern green half morocco slipcase and green cloth chemise. € 5.000The first edition of any work by the mysterious Johannes Isaac Hollandus, a Latin translation of a German manuscript of his treatises on mineralogy, alchemy and the philosopher’s stone, and espe-cially on the use of metal oxides to colour stones and crystals to make fake gems and precious stones. The charming little woodcuts show distilling and other equipment.Little is known about Johannes Isaac Hollandus (active 1572–1610?), but the Görlitz astronomer Bartholomeus Scultetus had a German manuscript of some of his treatises on mineralogy that survives in the form of a copy made in Prague in 1572 and Ben Jonson’s 1610 play The Alchemists refers to him apparently as still living. His name suggests he was a Dutchman living abroad, but if his father was called Isaac Hollandus, as has been claimed, he may have been born abroad in a Dutch family.With the red morocco bookplate of Robert Honeyman IV. In very good condition, with only a minor transparent stain at the head of the last few leaves and a small marginal rust hole in 1 leaf. Contemporary binding also very good.

Duveen, p. 300; Honeyman 1761 (this copy); Partington II, pp. 203–208 & item 1; STCN (5 copies).

Rare edition of two medical works, on the mystery of the golden tooth and sleepwalking

8. HOR STIUS, Jacob. De aureo dente Maxillari Pueri Silesii, primum, utrum eius generatio naturalis fuerit, nec ne; deinde an digna eius interpretatio dari queat.Including: HOR STIUS, Jacob. De natura differentiis et causis eorum, qui dormientes ambulant, vigilantium opera, eaq.Leipzig, Valentinus Voegelinus (colophon: printed by Michael Lanzenberger), 1595. 2 parts in 1 volume. Small 8vo (14×9 cm). With woodcut printer’s device on title-page (repeated above the colophon). 19th-century half vellum. € 5.000Rare first combined edition of two medical works by Jacob Horst (1537–1600), professor of medicine at the Julius University in Helmstadt, first published separately by the same publisher in 1593 and appearing here for the second time. The first work is of special interest, being a rare early treatise on dentistry. In it Horst tried to solve the famous mystery of the golden tooth. The second work is on sleepwalking, a subject which from old seems to have greatly concerned parents and teachers, since much attention was given to it in early medical and educational literature. There current publication however seems to be largely overlooked in the literature.With an owner’s inscription on title-page dated 1598. Browned throughout, with some water stains, and a small hole in the gutter of 10 leaves in the second part; a fair copy. Binding in good condition, worn spine with a small tear.

Crowley 7; Poletti, p. 105; cf. Adams H-997–998; Durling 2460.

Occult philosophy on the study of ancient secrets9. JESSEN, Johann. Zoroaster nova, brevis, veraq[ue] de universa philosophia.Wittenberg, Ex officina Cratoniana (Johann Krafft), 1593. Small 8vo (16×10 cm). With an arabesque woodcut decoration on the title-page. Late 17th – or early 18th-century stiff marbled-paper wrappers. € 1.750A work of occult philosophy by the Silesian-born Johann Jessen (1566–1621), professor of anatomy at the University of Wittenberg and later rector of Charles University in Prague. It is largely based on Francesco Patrizi’s Nova de universis philosophia (1591), which emphasized the study of occult secrets hidden in sources from the ancient world, but it gives a different orientation by placing the study of the order of the cosmos, rather than the study of life, in the central position. It includes the author’s dedication to Friedrich Wilhelm I, Duke of Saxony-Wiemar, his preface (referring to Egyptian hieroglyphs), and a laudatory verse by Salomon Frenzel von Friedenthal (1564–1605). Jessen joined the anti-Hapsburg Bohemian Protestant revolt at Prague in 1618 and was executed in 1621, soon after the Bohemian defeat at the Battle of the White Mountain.Slightly browned but in good condition, with minor, mostly marginal water stains and a and a small abrasion on the title-page, not affecting the text or ornament.

Caillet 5534; Thorndike XI, 11, p. 461; VD16 J237 (9 copies); Wellcome I, 3454; WorldCat (3 copies).

Alchemy and the occult10. M ACPH A IL , Ian, Laurence C. W ITTEN and Richard PACHELL A . Alchemy and the occult. A catalogue of books and manuscripts from the collection of Paul and Mary Mellon given to Yale University Library. Volume One [-Four].New Haven, Yale University Library, 1968–1977. 4 volumes. 4to. Cloth, in two cloth slipcases. € 750

First and only edition of a very detailed and luxuriously printed catalogue of the books and manuscripts concerning alchemy and the occult given by Paul and Mary Mellon to Yale University Library. Volume 1 and 2 cover printed books (1472–1623 and 1624–1790) and volume 3 and 4 manuscripts (1225–1671 and1675-1922).In very good condition; some minor stains on the slipcases and the title-labels slightly rubbed.

Scaliger’s unsurpassed critical edition of Manilius’s ancient astrology

11. M A NILIUS, Marcus and Joseph SC A LIGER (ed.). Astronomicon libri quinque.Including:

JUNIUS, Franciscus. In Manilii Astronomica variae lectiones. SC A LIGER, Joseph. In Manilii Quinque libros astronomicon commentarius & castigationes.[Heidelberg], Officina Sanctandreana [=Hieronymus Commelin], 1590. 3 parts in 1 volume. 8vo. With woodcut publisher’s device (repeated on the title-page of part 3), 6 astronomical woodcuts and a few tables in text. 18th-century(?) stiff pasteboard wrappers. € 1.750

True second edition of Scaliger’s Manilius, the oldest and most widely cited work on ancient astrology, enlarged with commentaries by Franciscus Junius. “Perhaps no critic has ever effected so great and permanent a change in any author’s text as Scaliger in Manilius’. … The commentary is the one commentary on Manilius, without forerunner and without successor; after the passage of 300 years, it is the only avenue to a study of the poem …” (Houseman, in the preface to his edition of 1903).“For the average reader, the Astronomica served as a literary introduction to heavens and an advanced primer to astrology. Manilius’ masterpiece, a Latin didactic poem in five books, unveils the cosmos in hexameter verse, explaining the celestial sphere and zodiac, ‘describing the stars, constellations, and planets,’ and above all, providing a Stoic vision of the celestial dance” (Hockey et al.).From the library of Pietro Riccardi, a notable collector of mathematical books. Some browning throughout and one page with its lower right corner torn off, but still a good copy and wholly untrimmed, preserving all deckles. Binding also good, with upper part of the front hinge restored.

Adams M362; Riccardi I, Manulius 44 (this copy); VD 16, ZV 10344 (6 copies); cf. Hockey et al., Biographical encyclopedia of astronomers, p. 735.

Chemical miracles and medical mysteries12. MÜLLER, Philipp. Miracula chymica, et mysteria medica.Paris, Melchior Mondier, 1644. 12mo. With 12 woodcut illustrations in text. Contemporary mottled calf, gold-tooled spine and binding edges. € 1.250

Rare fifth edition of Miracula chymica, et mysteria medica (“Chemical miracles and medical mysteries”) by the German mathematician, chemist and physician Philipp Müller (1581–1659). “Of the five books into which the work is divided, the first has chapters on instruments, with ten figures, on the material of the philosophers’ stone in general, on mercury, … gold and silver …. Book Two is on particular transmutations, with a figure of a furnace. Book Three deals with rarer preparations, especially from minerals, and has chapters on those from mercury, sulphur, vitriol, tartar and arsenic. Book Four treats of more secret ways of making, from vegetable simples, extracts, distilled waters, balsams, essences and salts philosophic. But its fifth and last chapter is on extraction of essences and tinctures from all sort of stones. The fifth … is devoted to various rarer and more secret remedies for all diseases of the human body from head to heel” (Thorndike).Very good copy, with only a few minor spots. The binding with a few wormholes, rubbed along the extremities and the spine chipped at the foot, but still firm.

Thorndike VII, pp. 163–165; WorldCat (5 copies).

Twenty of Nostradamus’s prophesies explained13. [NOSTR A DA MUS, Michel]. Vingt prophéties de Michel de Nostradamus, derniérement trouvées manuscrites dans une célèbre bibliotheque des Pays-Bas. Avec explication et figures.Liège, [ca. 1789]. 8vo. With 20 engraved emblems at the beginning of each chapter, several by Pieter Balthazar Bouttats. Contemporary mottled tanned sheepskin, gold-tooled spine, marbled edges. € 2.500

Rare first edition of a work containing 20 adapted prophecies of the French apothecary and seer Michel de Nostradamus (1503–1566). Nostradamus’s predictions, first published in 1555 as Les proheties, are here edited by an anonymous author, giving an explanation and opinion of each prophecy. Each prophecy is preceded by an oval emblematic engraving, of which 6 are signed by the Antwerp-based engraver Pieter Balthazar Bouttats (1666–1756). Since the engravings don’t relate to the text, they were probably originally made to illustrate an earlier work, and were reused in the present work.With bookplate. Browned, with some occasional small spots or stains, but otherwise in good condition. Binding worn along the extremities, bottom of spine damaged.

Chomarat, M. & J.-P. Laroche, Bibliographie Nostradamus (Baden-Baden 1989) 372; WorldCat (6 copies).

Warding off demons, evil spirits and sorcerers14. PER R E AUD, François. Demonologie ou traitte des demons et sorciers: de leur puissance & impuissance. Ensemble l’ Antidemon de Mascon ou histoire veritable de ce qu’un demon a fait & dit, il y a quelques années, en la maison dudit Sr. Perreaud à Mascon.Genève, Pierre Aubert, 1653. 2 parts in 1 volume. 8vo. Contemporary limp sheepskin parchment. € 4.950

First edition of a curious work on demonology by François Perreaud, or Perrault (1572 or 1577–1657), son of a protestant pastor, and himself a protestant minister in the French Bourgogne and Gex region. The book is divided into two parts. The author starts adressing the readers who don’t believe in demons or evil spirits, and proves their existance mostly with Bible-quotations. He then describes in detail all vexations and nuisance caused by devils, spirits and sorcerers, also explain-ing how a “ghost” can move objects in the physical world and giving tips on warding off demons. The second part is devoted to one demon in particular, the so-called “tormentor” of Mâcon, who caused trouble to the household of the author and to all inhabitants of the town of Mâcon.With manuscript notes on pastedown and the title-page. Slightly browned and foxed, and lacking opening flyleaf, otherwise a good copy.

Caillet 8530: “ouvrage curieux et rare, surtout en édition ancienne”; Coumont, Demonology and witchcraft P25.1.

Dutch translation of an immensely popular book of secrets15. PIEDMONT, Alexis of (Girolamo RUSCELLI). De secreeten ... inhoudende seer excellente ende wel geapprobeerde remedien, tegen veelderhande krancheden, wonden ende andere accidenten: met de maniere van distilleren, perfumeren, confituyren maecken, te verwen, coloeuren ende gieten.Amsterdam, Hendrick Laurensz., 1636. 2 parts in 1 volume. 8vo. Modern sheepskin. € 600Rare sixth edition of the Dutch translation of an immensely popular book of secrets, compiled by Alexis of Piedmont. It is generally supposed that Piedmont is the pseudonym of the Italian humanist Girolamo Ruscelli (1500–1566), since Ruscelli mentions in a later work that he and other humanists had founded an “Academy of Secrets” that had published the Secreti. “Books of secrets and exper-iments had been prominent in medieval manuscripts and were to flare forth again in the second half of the [16th] century in the Secreti of Alessio of Piedmont, of which Ferguson listed 56 edition between its first appearance in 1557 [in Venice] and the end of the century” (Thorndike). It gives numerous “secrets”, ranging from how to dye leather, to how to cure sick horses, clean paintings and whiten teeth. Besides these more convenient secrets, there are some occult passages, informing the reader how to dream wildly or how “to write letters on someone’s skin that can never be removed”. “No treatise better illustrates the popular or household practice of applied chemistry, of the arts, and of medicine...” (Ferguson).Somewhat browned, with a waterstain in lower right corner throughout, not affecting text, and some occasional spots and ink blots. A good copy.

J. Ferguson, “The secrets of Alexis: a sixteenth century collection of medical and technical receipts” in: Proceedings of the Royal Society of medicine XXIV (1930), pp. 225–246; STCN (2 copies); Thorndike V, p. 147 & VI, pp. 215–216; WorldCat (3 other copies).

One of the earliest books against the polular belief in witchcraft

17. SCOT, Reginald and Thomas and Govert BA SSON (translators). Ondecking van tovery.(Colophon: Leiden, Willem Christiaens, 1637). 8vo. With an engraved title-page by Experiens Sillemans, and 2 full-page engraved portraits of Jeanne d’Arc. Contemporary vellum. € 4.950

Second and enlarged edition of the rare Dutch translation of one of the most famous and earliest books against the popular belief in witchcraft. “It was England’s first major work on demonology and witchcraft and it was unashamedly and unapologetically sceptical. But paradoxically, the comprehensive account of magic, witchcraft and legerdemain contained in The discoverie of witchcraft fostered European demonologies in England, helped the spread of indigenous witchcraft traditions, and inaugurated the English tradition of secular magic and conjuring” (Almond). Scot stated that belief in witchcraft was both irrational and irre-ligious, explaining and unmasking many old conjuring tricks, and was far ahead of his time by stating that spiritual manifestations were either willful imposture or due to mental disturbance.A small stain in the margin of the title-page, a minor waterstain in the gutter of the last 50 pages, and some occasional small spots. Otherwise a very good copy.

P.C. Almond, England’s first demonologist (2015), p. 2; Coumont, Demonology and Witchcraft S38.14; STCN (7 copies); Thorndike VI, pp. 529–531; WorldCat (1 other copy).

Austrian folk medicine and magic, covering about 400 ailments in horses and about 50 in people

19. Wolfgang S. Ein Gerecht und Wohl Aprobierte Haus Apodeken oder Pferd Artznei Buch.With: (2) Eine Agadami dass ist Artzney Mittel vor Menschen zu gebrauchen.[Upper Austria, part 1 of 1st work dated 1812 at end]. 2 works in 1 volume, the 1st in 2 parts. Folio (35×22.5 cm). A practical manuscript handbook in brown and black ink on paper, written in German in a German gothic hand and with numerous headings and paragraph openings in a variety of decorated gothic styles. With an elaborately decorated main title-page in at least 6 colours, the title-page of part 2 of the main work with decora-tive lettering and flowers in brown and red with a half-page colour drawing of a bleeding horse in the foreground of a landscape with a partly ruined castle, a church, a stone entry and other buildings, and the title-page to the 2nd work with decorated lettering and a crowned figure of death (a skeleton with scythe and hourglass). Further with drawings of 2 magical signs to protect people and livestock, and a vase of flowers and a scene with 2 buildings as tailpieces. Contemporary blind-tooled half calf. € 14.000

A remarkable Austrian manuscript in German, richly and elaborately decorated in numerous colours, devoted primarily to veterinary medicine and pharmacology for the treatment of horses, but also discussing the treatment of other livestock and with the second (shorter) work devoted to the treatment of humans. It gives instructions for preparing and using many medicines, the main work covering about 400 ailments and the work for human medicine about 50. The slightly primitive landscape on the title-page of part 2 shows a horse standing in the foreground with what appears to be blood streaming from 12 points on his body. Several headings toward the end of part 2 announce sections on ailments caused, cured or warded off by magic, including “Zauberische Kranckheiten der Roß” (p. 110) and “Ein bewertes Styck [= Stück] vor Zauwerey fur Menschen und Viech dieses bey Sich zu Tragen, und den Vuch im Stall Angenagelt” (p. 117). The latter includes two drawings of the signs that are to be carried around or nailed up[?] in the stall. They look rather like alchemical signs.With one or a few small and unobtrusive worm holes near the foot of the page through most of the manuscript, some stains and restorations in the gutter margin of the first few leaves and an occasional minor stain or smudge on other leaves, but still in good condition. The binding is worn and shows some restorations. A fascinating and elaborately decorated manuscript devoted primarily to the treatment of medicine ailments in horses, mixing folk remedies with magic.

The secrets and rituals of the freemasonry revealed20. WOL SON, Thomas. De metselaar ontmomd, of het rechte geheim der vrye metselaren ontdekt, in allen deele oprechtelyk en zonder achterhouding, door een gewezen vryen metselaar. ... Derde druk.Arnhem, Jacob Nijhoff, 1753. 8vo (16.5×10 cm). With a woodcut freemasonry device on title-page and 3 folding engraved plates. Contemporary marbled paper wrappers. € 950

Third edition of the very rare Dutch translation a work on freemasonry by the former freemason Thomas Wolson, revealing the secrets of the masonry rites and rituals. Wolson starts with the origin and history of the brotherhood, and narrates his own experiences as a freemason: the inauguration oaths and rituals, speeches by other freemasons, meals at lodges etc. Of particu-lar interest are Wolson’s descriptions and illustrations of various (secret) symbols, the freemason’s alphabet, the attributes which can be found in a lodg and the interior of the temple. Instead of depicting the freemasonry of its day, the illustrations curiously enough formed the origin and the basis for actual and practical use of the alphabet and several ceremonies in the following centuries.Paper wrappers damaged on spine and corners dog-eared. Many leaves dog-eared, edges somewhat frayed, and some occasional stains. Overall a good copy, wholly untrimmed.

STCN (1 copy & 1 of the 2nd ed.); WorldCat (4 other copies).

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