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THE OCCULT
Geomancy Chiromancy & Metoposcopia — Many Plates
(A
TWO-FER)! Gran-Pescatore,
di Chiaravelle. Metoposcopia et chiromantia curiosa. Das ist: Kurtze
und deutliche Anweisung Wie man aus dem Gesichte und Gestalt eines Menschen, von
dessen Verstand, Gedachtniss, Sitten und seinen Verrichtungen, wie auch Gluck
und Ungluck, so wohl Vergangenen, als Zukunfftigen, kan einige vernunfftige Muthmassung
fallen. [with another, as below]. Jena: Verlegts Heinrich Christoph Croker,
1701. 12mo (13.5 cm; 5.25"). Frontis., [5] ff., 250, [18] ff., [30] leaves of
plates. [also bound in] Anonymous. Vollkommene Geomantia, oder sogenante
Punctier-Kunst. Worin nicht allein, was von verschiednen in dieser bissher ziemlich
ohnbekanten Wissenschafft hocherfahrnen Leuthen, Arabern, Welschen, Franzosonen,
und Engellandern durch Fleiss und Erfahrung beobachtet worden, der curiosen teutschen
Welt zu Dienst zusammen getragen. Freystadt [i.e., Jena]: [Cröcker], 1702.
12mo (13.5 cm; 5.25"). Frontis., 408 p., [3 of 5] fold. plates.
$1800.00
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Two works of the occult bound in one volume. The first claims to be translated from the Italian but all titles by the “Gran Pescatore di Chiaravalle” are in languages other than Italian! The Metoposcopia et chiromantia curiosa deals with prediction of personality and destiny based on the pattern of lines on one's forehead and via the lines in one's palm.
The Vollkommene Geomantia treates of divination by way of markings on the ground or how fistfuls of dirt land when tossed. This last work is supposedly based on researches in books on the subject written in rabic, Italian, French, and English.
Vollkommene: Jantz Collection, 3334. Neither work in Coumont, Demonology and Witchcraft. Contemporary vellum over paste boards, with slightly yapp edges; all edges red. Text unmarked and untattered. A very nice pair of uncommon books. (26955)

Is
She or
Isn't She?
Bellamy, Edward. Miss Ludington's sister. Boston:
James R. Osgood, 1885. 8vo. [2] ff., 260 pp.
$150.00
Second edition. Sub-titled “A romance of immortality,”
this is the tale of
deception, false mediums, seances, and contrition.
Binding: Publisher's brown cloth, front cover and spine stamped in gilt and
black in an “Arts and Crafts” inspired design.
Click
the images for enlargements.
BAL 954; Wright, III, 461. Binding with light
rubbing at edges and some light discolorations to covers; ex–social
club library with call number on endpaper, pressure- and rubber-stamp on title-page,
no other markings. Clean; in fact a nice book. (26572)

Protestant Refutation of Baronius
Casaubon, Isaac. Isaaci Casauboni De rebus sacris & ecclesiasticis exercitationes XVI ... Acceßit versio Latina earum sententiarum & dictionum Gracarum, quarum interpretatio ab authore in prima editione certo consilio fuit praetermissa. Francofurti: Curantib. Ruland. typis Ioan. Bring, 1615. 4to (24.7 cm, 9.75"). [72], 552, [24] pp.
$600.00
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Second edition, following the first of 1614, of this critical examination of Cardinal Cesare Baronio's Annales ecclesiastici, a study of the early Roman Catholic Church. This work contains Casaubon's often-cited rebuttal of the alleged ancient Egyptian origins of the Hermetic writings.
The title-page appears within a very fine copper-engraved architectural and allegorical frame. This copy bears
interesting evidence of early readership, with inked marginalia in a very neat hand and underlining in both black and red.
Binding: Contemporary alum-tawed pigskin, covers elaborately tooled and embossed in blind with resulting concentric compartments (one roll being pictorial representations of the virtues).
Brunet 21364; VD17 12:116615R. Binding with some portions darkenedor rubbed, spine leather with numerous small cracks, clasps now absent; front hinge (inside) repaired, and binding strong. Title-page and first dedication page each with reasonably unobtrusive institutional pressure-stamp. Pages age-toned, with annotations as above.
A solid, engaging copy. (26927)

Anti-Superstition, Wherever it Might Lurk — Great Provenance
Lurking Here
Dale, Antonius van. Dissertationes de origine ac progressu idololatriae et superstitionum: De vera ac falsa prophetia; uti et de divinationibus idololatricis judaeorum. Amstelodami: Apud Henricum & Viduam Theodori Boom, 1696. 4to (21.1 cm, 8.3"). [52], 762, [14], pp.
$1200.00
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First edition: History and rationalist refutation of idolatry, including divination, demonology, astrology, exorcism, sorcery, prophecy, etc. — in Judaism as well as in Zoroastrianism and pagan religions. Born in Haarlem, van Dale (a.k.a. Anton van Dalen, 1638–1708) was a physician, Mennonite preacher, and classicist; his efforts to dismiss the influence of the Devil and indeed the existence of virtually all things miraculous, angelic, or supernatural led to the placing of this work (along with his treatise discrediting the ancient oracles) on the Index Librorum Prohibitorum in 1737.This volume is also of interest typographically; some of the Greek, Syriac, and Arabic types subsequently used in productions by Hendrik Wetstein and others make their first appearances here. The text is predominantly in Latin, with quotations in Hebrew and the above languages. The title-page is printed in black and red.
Provenance: Front pastedown with inked inscriptions of the Rev. A.W. Miller of Charlotte, N.C., dated 1871, and of H. Ader of Assumption Hills, dated [18]92; front free endpaper with early inked inscription of Henry Joseph Thomas Drury. Drury was a master at Harrow School (where he taught Byron), and an original member of the Roxburghe Club. His inscription notes the book's passage from the Bibliotheca Heathiana “thro' Dr. Raine's hands, and Cuthell's to mine”; Drury's mother was Louisa Heath, daughter of the great collector Benjamin Heath, but most of Heath's library had originally gone either to his two sons or to auction following the death of his wife.
Rosenthal, Bibliotheca magica et pneumatica, 1614. Not in Caillet, Manuel bibliographique des sciences psychiques ou occultes; not in Coumont, Demonology & Witchcraft. Contemporary speckled calf framed and panelled in blind with blind-tooled corner fleurons, inner edges of covers ruled in gilt double fillets, neatly rebacked; spine with gilt-stamped title, gilt-stamped raised bands, and blind-tooled compartment decorations; original leather with edges abraded, corners repaired. Hinges (inside) reinforced some time ago. Lower (closed) edges institutionally blind-stamped. Front pastedown and free endpaper with inscriptions as above, title-page with small ownership inscription in upper portion. Pages age-toned with small amounts of light foxing. Nice margins, all edges (once) saffron. (25848)

Christian Consolations
Spiritually Endorsed
Defoe, Daniel; Charles Drelincourt. [The Christian’s defence against the fears of death. With seasonable directions how to prepare ourselves to die well. Written originally in French ... Translated into English, by Marius D’Assigny] A true relation of
the apparition of one Mrs. Veal ... the eighteenth edition. [London: Pr. for R. Ware, W. Innys & J. Richardson, W. & D. Baker, et al., 1756]. 8vo (20.3 cm, 8"). [2], xi/xii, 12, 502 pp. (lacking frontis., main t.-p., 3 ff. preface, & final f.).
$300.00
Click the interior images for enlargements.
English translation of Charles Drelincourt's Consolations de l’âme fidèle, with the intriguing “True Relation of the Apparition of One Mrs. Veal.” First published in 1705, Daniel Defoe's convincingly matter-of-fact account of Margaret Veal's ghostly visit to an old friend went through numerous editions; it appears here as the stated eighteenth, serving (as did most later printings) as a preface to the Christian’s Defence against the Fears of Death. Legend has it that Defoe's retelling of a ghost story then in circulation was meant as a boost for flagging sales of an edition of the Defence, although current scholarship is skeptical of that tale. Drelincourt's pious work sold quite well both before and after Defoe's addition, at any rate, and was often recommended as a gift for mourners.
This example particularly showcases the “True Relation,” as the separate title-page for that item is the first leaf present here; the title-page and preface for the Defence are absent.
ESTC T189434; Lowndes 616–17; Allibone 490. Recent quarter mottled calf and marbled paper–covered sides, leather edges blind-tooled, spine with gilt-stamped leather labels, gilt-dotted raised bands, and gilt-stamped decorations in compartments. First three pages institutionally pressure-stamped, lower (closed) edges rubber-stamped; title-page with inked and rubber-stamped numerals in lower margin. Frontispiece, main title-page, preface to Christian's Defence, and final leaf lacking (the last interrupting the text of a brief account of Drelincourt's life). Title-page stained with inner margin reinforced and tear repaired some time ago. Pages browned, foxed, and stained, first and last few with edges tattered; some corners dog-eared. Two leaves torn, without loss of text; one leaf with outer margin chipped, affecting four words without loss of sense. A book often “read to death” . . . (25807)

“Madmen
or Epileptics”
(Anyway, NOT
Bewitched)
Farmer, Hugh. An essay on the demoniacs of the New Testament. London: G. Robinson, 1775. 8vo (21.6 cm, 8.5"). [16], 416 pp.
$300.00

First edition of this treatise on demonic possession, arguing that “the disorders imputed to supernatural possessions, proceed from natural causes, not from the agency of any evil spirits” (p. 2). Despite the heated debate that sprang up over the Rev. Farmer's conclusions, the cogency of his argument and clarity of his writing were widely acclaimed among his contemporaries.
Click the interior image for an enlargement.
Provenance: Signature of Philip Harwood on half-title.
ESTC T68112; Lowndes 780; Allibone 578. Recent quarter calf and marbled paper–covered sides, spine with gilt-stamped leather title-label and blind-tooled compartment decorations. Half-title with early inked ownership inscription. Half-title, title-page, and last page institutionally pressure-stamped, title-page with inked numeral in lower margin. Pages slightly age-toned, otherwise clean. (25088)
One
Could Collect CHAPBOOKS
Featuring GHOSTS . . .
Four favourite songs. Glasgow: Pr. for the booksellers, [ca. 1830?]. 12mo. 8 pp.
$85.00
Scarce. The title-page gives, in addition to the main piece, "William and Margaret. / Go, Yarrow Flower.
/ Robin and Anna. / Could a Man Be Secure"; it also bears a woodcut vignette of a girl in a bonnet carrying two pails slung from a hoop round her knees, with "[No.] 10" printed below. In "William and Margaret" [3 pages], Margaret's ghost appears to the young man who betrayed her. He throws himelf on her grave and never speaks again.
NSTC 2S31074. Removed from a nonce volume. Clean save for some smudging to outer margin of one page. (16760)
Freystadt, M. Philosophia cabbalistica et pantheismus. Regimontii Prussorum: Borntraeger (pr. by Conradus Paschke), 1832. 8vo (19.8 cm, 7.75"). xv, [1], 143, [1] pp.
$350.00
Uncommon sole edition of Freystadt’s essay on Kabbalah and on pantheistic thought, printed in Latin and Hebrew with sprinklings of Arabic and Greek. Steineschneider cites this as Freystadt’s “dissert. inaug.”
Steineschneider, Catalogus Librorum Hebraeorum, 5085. Contemporary paste paper–covered boards, spine with hand-inked title label; binding rubbed and abraded, spine with stamped shelving number. All edges stained red. Front pastedown with 19th-century private collector’s bookplate.

The Sibylls & Zoroaster, Too!
Gallé, Servatius, editor. [two lines in Greek, romanized
as] Sibulliakoi chresmoi, [then in Latin], hoc est, Sibyllina oracula ex veteribus codicibus
emendata, ac restituta et commentariis diversorum illustrata, operâ & studio Servatii Gallaei:
accedunt etiam oracula magica Zoroastris, Jovis, Apollinis, &c. Astrampsychi Oneiro-criticum,
&c. graece & latine, cum notis variorum. Amstelodami: apud Henricum & viduam Theodori
Boom, 1689. Small 4to. [13 of 14] ff., 791, [1] pp., [13] ff., 127, [1 (blank)] pp.; without the
added engr. title-page.
$500.00
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First edition of Gallé's compilation of the pronouncements of the Sibylls. The
work has text in Greek and Latin, and the apparatus in Latin; Hebrew types also appear. Galle
(1627–1709), a Dutch clergyman and philologist, brings together everything relevant to the
famous pronouncements of the sibylls, the prophetesses of Greco-Roman antiquity. Their
prognostications were in Greek hexameter verse, the authenticity of which was said to be assured
by the presence of acrostics within.Also contained here is the famous Oracula Magica Zoroastris cum Scolliis Plethonis et
Pselli as edited by Johannis Opsopoeus.
STCN 168904; Brunet, II, 1465; Caillet
10165; Hoffmann III, 396; Landwehr, Hooghe, 72; Schweiger, I, 287 .
Contemporary half brown calf with mottled paper sides; spine with gilt-accented raised bands,
red leather gilt label, and gilt devices in compartments; all edges interestingly marbled. Binding
worn and top of spine pulled. Without the added engraved title-page, and a small, early paper
repair on title-page; not a perfect copy, but certainly a decent one and priced accordingly.
(26691)
Harcouet de Longeville. Histoire des personnes qui ont vecu plusieurs siecles, et qui ont rajeuni: Avec le secret du rajeunissement. Paris: Chez la Veuve Carpentier & Laurent le Comte, 1716. 12mo (14.7 cm, 5.75"). Frontis., [14], 248 pp.
$750.00

Second edition of this uncommon French treatise on longevity and rejuvenation, originally published in 1715 and shortly thereafter reprinted in English as Long Livers: A Curious History of Such Persons of Both Sexes Who Have Liv’d Several Ages, and Grown Young Again. The frontispiece was engraved by Harrewyn, and incorporates the motto “Sanitas vita longa” along with symbolic motifs including Adam and Eve, a fountain, the staff of Asclepius (the bearer of which wears a pentagram on his chest), and a stag. Sources drawn on and listed by the author include Ptolemy, Torquemada, Rousseau, and St. Augustine, as well as an assortment of Biblical figures — not to mention Arnaud de Villeneuve, in whose writings Monsieur Harcouet (ca. 1660–1720) allegedly found the highly complicated procedure described here for would-be Methuselahs, involving preparations of saffron and sandalwood (stored in a lead box) and the consumption of chickens kept on a diet of serpent broth.
Click the interior image for an enlargement.
Brunet, III, 39; Osler, Biblotheca Osleriana, 5950 (first ed.). 19th-century quarter calf over marbled paper–covered sides, spine with gilt-stamped leather title-label and raised bands ruled in gilt fillets; edges and spine moderately rubbed, paper chipped over corners, corners bumped. Pages slightly age-toned, otherwise clean.
SO SAD!
Jemmy &
Nancy of Yarmouth; or the constant lovers: A tragical ballad.
Glasgow: Pr. for the booksellers, [ca. 1835?]. 12mo. 8 pp.
$95.00

Nancy, the heiress of a rich Yarmouth merchant, is forbidden by
her father to marry the sailor Jemmy. Sailing to Barbados, Jemmy is wooed by
a wealthy "Barbadoes Lady," but he remains true to his love. On the return journey
to England, Nancy's father has him murdered. He appears to Nancy as a
ghost
to claim her and she keeps her vows to him by drowning herself in the sea. This
uncommon Scottish edition bears a woodcut title vignette of a young man dancing
with one arm raised, with "[No.] 3" printed at foot of title.
This ed. not in NSTC. Removed from a nonce volume. Page edges
slightly darkened, otherwise clean. (16757)

The Future INTERPRETED by
“the English Merlin”
Lilly, William. A collection of ancient and moderne prophesies concerning these present times, with modest observations thereon. London: John Partridge & Humphrey Blunden, 1645. 4to (18.1 cm, 7.1"). [8], 54, [2] pp.; illus.
[SOLD]
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Uncommon first edition: A gathering of foretellings compiled and analyzed by the famed English astrologer who wrote Christian Astrology and published the annual Merlini Anglici Ephemeris almanac. Lilly (1602–81), whose prediction of the King's defeat at the Battle of Naseby made his name as a professional fortuneteller, became deeply involved in politics, only to see his influence wane after the Restoration; at one point, he was put on trial and accused of having set the Great Fire of London, which he had predicted a number of years before.
In the present work, Lilly includes an early recording of Mother Shipton's prophecies along with descriptions of their fulfillment, and an account of his own interpretation of the White King prophecy and its connections to Charles I; also here is “An Irish Prophesie: or, the Baby Prophesie,” illustrated with
woodcuts depicting the central images of that set of predictions. Astrological charts are provided for Thomas, Earl of Strafford, and William Laud, Archbishop of Canterbury.
ESTC R200424; Wing (rev. ed.) L2217; Huth, Catalogue, 849. Not in Coumont, Demonology and Witchcraft. On Lilly, see: Oxford Dictionary of National Biography online. Recent calf in a classic “collectors' style”; covers framed in gilt double fillets, spine with gilt-ruled raised bands and gilt-stamped leather title-label. Title-page darkened, with small closed tear and early inked ownership inscription; pages with small pencilled annotations and marks of emphasis. The shouldernotes, of a sort often trimmed-into, are here intact; and the volume is now in a tan cloth–covered slipcase, this with light dust-soiling.
A solid and interesting copy of an intriguing work, one of Lilly's rarest. (26921)

Read by Rousseau & Voltaire
Muralt, Béat Louis de. Lettres fanatiques. Londres: Aux
depens de la Compagnie, 1739. 12mo. 2 vols. I: [2], viii, [2], 276 pp. II: [4], 327, [1 (blank)] pp.
$950.00

Scarce sole edition of these essays on science, philosophy, and
religion, including some
mystical
prophecies regarding Christ's return. The author, a Swiss
Protestant, is best known for the Lettres sur les Anglais et les Français;
Voltaire was an admirer and referred to the “sage et ingénieux”
Muralt in his Lettres anglaises.
Uncommon.
A search of ESTC, OCLC, and NUC Pre-1956 finds only four U.S. holdings
of this title. ESTC notes that this is a false imprint and that the work was
likely printed in the Netherlands; one source suggests Lausanne.
ESTC T112988; Caillet, Manuel bibliographique des sciences
psychiques ou occultes..., 7879. Recent quarter calf with marbled
paper–covered sides, spines with gilt-stamped titles. Title-pages each
with inked ownership inscription dated 1804 in lower margin, name lined through;
first page of preface with inked numeral in lower margin. Upper outer corners
rounded, with most of these (and some margins) browned in vol. I. All edges
speckled blue and brown. (23261)
Newton, Isaac. Observations upon the prophecies of Daniel, and the Apocalypse of St. John. In two parts. London: Printed by J. Darby and T. Browne...and sold by J. Roberts...[et al.], 1733. 4to (26 cm). vi, [2], 323 pp
$3000.00
Click the image above right
for an enlargement.
First edition.
In addition to being a physicist, mathematician, and natural philosopher, Sir
Isaac Newton was something of a Biblical scholar as well, as shown by the present
exegesis on apocalyptic texts. His analysis generally reads as being practical
in nature—as the New Catholic Encyclopedia (X, 428) says, “Newton's
writings on
apocalyptical
prophecies were not mystical or millenarian in any sense,
but more exercises in deciphering cryptograms.” They comport with our
sense of him as someone who believed in the scientific method!
Wallis, Newton, 328.1; ESTC T41883, T18642, N64145. Recent
quarter calf over marbled paper, spine with raised bands; gilt-lettered and
-ruled label from a previous binding retained, chipped about the edges. Bookplate
on front pastedown. Some light waterstaining and some cockling, and a few
leaves with shallow chipping or tattering; these, with good repairs. Ample
margins. In sum a handsome book.

Sir
Isaac &
His (actually, not so) Mystical
Side
Newton, Isaac. Observations upon the prophecies of Daniel. London: James Nisbet, &T. Stevenson, Cambridge, 1831. 8vo (23.5 cm; 9"). [1] f., xii, 250 pp.
$550.00
Click the interior images for enlargements.
Third edition, being “A new edition, with the citations translated, and notes by P. Borthwick
. . . of Downing College, Cambridge.”
Publisher's quarter green cloth with paper-covered boards. Rebacked
in sympathetic cloth and new paper label (antique style) applied. Boards show
age-stains and wear but are solid. Old library pressure-stamp on title-page.
In an open back slipcase of green library cloth; spine of box with author,
title, and call number in gilt. A nice copy, sound for reading. (21773)
A
Rather EXTENDED
Chapbook!
[Another
Ghost,
Here, Too]
Ogilvie, William. The Laird of Cool's ghost: being several conferences and meetings betwixt the Reverend Mr. Ogilvie, late minister of the gospel at Innerwick; and the ghost of Mr. Maxwell, late Laird of Cool; as it was found in Mr. Ogilvie's closet after his death written with his own hand. Glasgow: Pr. for the booksellers, [ca. 1840?]. 12mo. 24 pp.
$150.00


Religious conversation with a ghost, whose requests for reparation to those he wronged in life are declined by Mr. Ogilvie. The title-page woodcut
vignette shows Mercury with winged staff, helmet and sandals, with “[No.] 48” printed at the foot of the title.
This ed. not in NSTC. Removed from a nonce volume. Title-page with upper margin trimmed a bit closely, just touching “The” of title. Pages slightly age-toned, otherwise clean. (16780)

Surprisingly
Unbiased for Its Time
Otte, Johann Heinrich [a.k.a. Johannes Ottius]. Annales anabaptistici hoc est, historia universalis de anabaptistarum origine, progressu, factionibus & schismatis ... Basileae: Johannis Regis (impressa per Jacobum Werenfelsium), 1672. 4to (20.3 cm, 8"). [40], 360, [24] pp. (pagination skips 226–29, repeats 241–44).
$875.00
Click the images for enlargements.
First edition: A history of the Anabaptists, written by Otte (a.k.a. Johannes Ottius, 1617–82), a Swiss Reformed church historian best known for this extensively researched, chronologically ordered account of the various branches of Anabaptism from 1521 through 1671. The Dutch Mennonites, the Swiss Brethren, and the Austrian Hutterites all receive much attention in the latter portion of this volume, which Rosenthal includes under the category of important works on sects, and describes as “curieux et rare.”
The title-page is printed in red and black; the text is printed in roman, italic, and black-letter fonts with one large foliate initial, two typographical headpieces, and two woodcut tailpieces.
Provenance: Title-page with 19th-century inked ownership inscription of Howard Osgood (1831–1911), an eminent Baptist minister, scholar, and member of the American Committee on Revision of the Old Testament, as well as a famed collector of Reformation materials.
VD17 12:119791F; Hillerbrand, Anabaptism, 2456; Rosenthal, Bibliotheca magica et pneumatica, 4650. Period-style full dark calf, covers framed in blind fillets and blind roll, spine with gilt-stamped leather title-label, gilt beading on raised bands with blind-tooling extending onto boards, and blind-tooled decorations in compartments; all edges stained black. Title-page with small inked numeral in upper inner corner, ownership inscription as above, and institutional pressure-stamp. First few leaves darkened; first and last leaf each with small paper adhesions along inner margin; instances of minor to moderate offsetting throughout. One leaf with tear from outer margin, just touching text without loss.
A clean, wide-margined, rather pretty. little quarto. (26090)

Against Magic & Sorcery
Saint André, François de. Lettres de Mr. de St. André conseiller-medecin ordinaire du Roy; a quelques-uns de sees amis, au sujet de la magie, des malefices et des sorciers. Où il rend raison des effets les plus surprenans qu'on attribue ordinairement aux démons; & fait voir que ces intelligences n'y ont souvent aucune part; & que tout ce qu'on leur impute, qui ne se trouve ni dans l'ancien, ni dans le Nouveau-Testament, ni autorisé par l'eglise, est naturel ou supposé. Paris: Robert-Marc Despilly, 1725. 16mo (16.2 cm, 6.5"). [3], 446 pp.
$875.00
Click the interior images for enlargements.
First edition of a collection of six letters by François de Saint André (1675–1725),
consulting physician in ordinary to the king, debunking magic, sorcery, and demonic possession. These polemics are addressed “A Monsieur B.”, with two entitled “de la magie” and four entitled “des malefices.” With engraved initials, and head- and tailpieces.
Provenance: Ink signatures of “Mesange de St. Andre,” dated 1784, appear on front free endpaper and at top margin of title-page; gift inscription on front fly-leaf reads “Henri de Mesange St. Andre offr. au regt. de Barrois.” Later from the library of Helen de Guerry Simpson.
Pichon 2075; Coumont, Demonology and Witchcraft, S3.1. Contemporary mottled calf, spine gilt extra and with gilt-stamped label; spine chipped at head and foot, joints open. Marbled endpapers. Ribbon placemarker. Edges stained red. Faint waterstain at lower margin of some leaves. Chip at lower outer corner of pp. 145/146. Slight loss of paper at lower edge of pp. 289/290. Ownership
markings include a bookplate on the front pastedown and early ink inscriptions on the front free endpaper, front fly-leaf, and in the blank area of the top margin of the title-page. (24562)

The Woman Clothed with
the Sun
Southcott, Joanna; Underwood, Ann. The book of wonders, marvellous and true. London: Marchant & Galabin, 1813. 8vo (21 cm, 8.25"). 88 pp.
[SOLD]

First edition. Southcott, a controversial religious phenomenon in her time — she prophesied in rhyme, believed she was the woman spoken of in Revelation 12:1-6, founded the Southcottian sect, and left behind her a sealed box still to this day the subject of intense speculation — produced these writings upon hearing of the death of the Rev. Joseph Spewho had been one of her staunch supporters. Four other books of wonders followed, printed from 1813 through 1814.
Click the images for enlargements.
“Some part of this book is copied from different books of Joanna Southcott's writings, which are in print; but all the other part, from herself and the answers given to her from the Spirit, I took from her mouth. ann underwood” (p. 88).
NSTC U32; Wright, Joanna Southcott Collection, 57(2). Later blue paper wrappers. Title-page and first text page institutionally perforation-stamped; first text page with rubber-stamped numeral in lower portion. Title-page darkened, with edges ragged. Pages age-toned with occasional edge chips, stains, or bumped corners;
one leaf with upper outer corner torn away, not affecting text. Now housed in a maroon cloth clamshell case with gilt-stamped ivory leather title-label. (25061)

MORE
from
the
Prophetess of Exeter
[And a Book with
a GREAT Title!]
Southcott, Joanna; Underwood, Ann. The second book of wonders, more marvellous than the first. London: Marchant & Galabin, 1813. 8vo (21 cm, 8.25"). 116 pp.
$750.00
First edition. Southcott speaks here about heavenly communications she received regarding her marriage, accusations made against her, and her family history. Three other books of wonders followed, printed from 1813 through 1814.
Click the image for an enlargement.
NSTC U33; Wright, Joanna Southcott Collection, 58(1). Later blue paper wrappers. Title-page with small chip to lower margin. Last few leaves darkened, with small burn hole in upper outer portion affecting a few letters. Now housed in a maroon cloth clamshell case with gilt-stamped ivory leather title-label. (25062)

Omens & Charms — Signs & Dreams
Spofford, Thomas. The Yankee. The Farmer’s almanack for the year of our Lord and Saviour 1832 ... Calculated for the meridian of Boston, (Mass.) lat. 42° 21’ north, but will serve for any of the states of New England; for New York, and Michigan Territory. .../ By Thomas Spofford. [7 lines of verse]. Boston: Willard Felt & Co. sold by him, and by David Felt, 1831. 12mo. 36 pp.
$25.00
At head of title: An astronomical diary for 1832. Vol. 2. No. 8. Whole no. 16. Title vignette. Poetry, anecdotes, “omens, charms, and divination”; also, “signs, dreams, &c.” Last page contains a stationers’ advertisement by the publishers.
Click the image for an enlargement.
Drake 4017. Uncut, stitched, partly unopened. (21434)

Silesian
Historical Anthology
Stenzel, Gustav Adolf Harald. Scriptores rerum Silesiacarum
oder Sammlung schlesischer Geschichtschreiber, namens der schlesischen gesellschaft für
vaterländische cultur. Breslau: Josef Max & Komp., 1835–47. 4to (25.7 cm, 9.9"). 3 vols. I: xx,
(iii)–xvi, 538 pp. II: xv, [1], 505, [1] pp. III: xii, 435, [1] pp.
$1000.00
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the interior images for enlargements.
Uncommon first edition: The first three volumes of this important
collection of documents pertaining to the history of Silesia. Stenzel (1792–1854),
a German historian, was for some years the archivist of the Silesian provincial
archives and made excellent use of his position; this work offers a great deal
of seldom-seen and valuable primary source material, including accounts of St.
Hedwig, Duchess of Silesia, and
Dorothea
Beier, the 15th-century mystic, along with the Chronica
Polonorum and Samuel Benjamin Klose's Darstellung der inneren Verhältnisse
der Stadt Breslau vom Jahre 1458 bis zum Jahre 1526.
Additional volumes continued to be published for many years, under the stewardship
of other editors; Stenzel was responsible for I through V.
Recent black-flecked paper–covered boards, spines with
printed paper title and volume labels. Some upper edges in vol. I and lower
corners in vol. II bumped; all edges stained red except for vol. III, which
has speckled edges. Vol. III (only) with light offsetting/show-through from
print; in fact a clean, nice set. (25346)

The Lady
Never Having Been There “SEES!” NYC & Other Places
Stone, William Leete. Letter to Doctor A. Brigham, on animal magnetism: being an account of a remarkable interview between the author and Miss Loraina Brackett while in a state of somnambulism. New York: George Dearborn (Scatcherd & Adams, printers), 1837. 8vo. 75, [1 (blank)] pp.
$225.00
Second edition, with additions; first edition published the same year, the letter describing a blind young woman who had demonstrated clairvoyant powers while in a trance-like state. Brackett, whose sight and speech had been lost from a near fatal blow to the head by an iron weight, was able to speak normally and discern certain objects and light from darkness following treatment by Dr. George Capron of Providence, Rhode Island, using animal magnetism. She also describes the scenery along walks in places she has never visited, and paintings in homes she has never entered . . .
Click the images for enlargements.
The second edition's “Postscript” promises “additional facts connected with this interesting subject, equally wonderful,” or even “more so.”
William Leete Stone (1792–1844) was a journalist, editor of the “Commercial Advertiser,” advocate of slave emancipation and Greek independence, historian of colonial New York and New England, and first superintendent of public schools in New York City.
Very scarce.
NSTC 2S41964; Sabin 92135. See: Dicitonary of American Biography for much on Stone. Removed from a nonce volume; mildest foxing to first and final leaves with crescent of lost paper to foremargin (only) of one leaf not nearing text.
A very good copy. (11023)
Thiselton-Dyer, T.F. Folk-lore of women as illustrated by legendary and traditionary tales, folk-rhymes, proverbial sayings, superstitions, etc. Chicago: A.C. McClurg & Co.; London: Elliot Stock, 1906. 8vo (20.9 cm, 8.25"). xvi, 253, [3 (2 adv.)] pp.
$150.00
First American edition, following the first London edition of 1905: Slightly stereotypical proverbs and sayings, as well as charms and “spells,” collected from around the world by the (male) author of Folk-lore of Plants, Folk-lore of Shakespeare, and Domestic Folklore.
Publisher’s red cloth, front cover and spine stamped in black and gilt; binding a bit darkened and faintly spotted, with head of spine chipped. Front free endpaper with inked ownership inscription. A few pages with short edge tears, not touching text.

French Symbolism in
Ornate Dress
Villiers de L'Isle-Adam, Auguste, comte de. Histoires souveraines. Bruxelles: Edmond Deman, 1899. 8vo (26.4 cm, 10.4"). 367, [5] pp.; illus.
$350.00
Click the images for enlargements.
First edition of this collection of tales from an important French
poet identified with the Symbolist movement and known for his
fascination with the occult.
The volume was edited and published posthumously by friends of the author; it
is decorated with an elegant Art Nouveau title-page and head-and tailpieces,
designed by Theo Van Rysselberghe and printed in sage and hunter green. Allegedly
only 60 copies were printed, 50 on papier du Japon and 10 allegedly on Hollande
Van Gelder paper; however, more institutional holdings than that are reported,
and virtually all copies on the market and in institutional holdings lay claim
to being one of the 10 Hollande printings. The present example is unnumbered,
and printed on Japanese laid paper.
Binding:
Contemporary quarter garnet red morocco with fawn brocade–covered
sides, spine gilt extra with title and arabesque motifs. Original green wrappers
bound in.
Caillet, Manuel bibliographique des sciences psychiques ou
occultes, 11198. Binding as above, spine faintly sunned and with
one small spot darkened; joints a bit rubbed and cloth corners/edges somewhat
moreso, with instances of spotting/discoloration to cloth that should be mentioned
but are not obtrusive. Front pastedown with attractive 20th-century bookplate.
Some signatures unopened.
A
lovely book in quite a nice copy. (26821)
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