THE HISTORY OF MAGIC: INCLUDING A CLEARM AND PRECISE EXPOSITION OF ITE PROCEDURE, RITES AND MYSTERIES
Book Details + Condition: Scarce facsimile reprint from Kessinger Publishing Company (publishers of rare and out-of-print books on Alchemy, Freemasonry, Hermetic, Rosicrucian, and Occult subjects), circa 1990s. 536 pages, with b&w illustrations. Translation, Preface and Notes by A.E. Waite. Eliphas Lévi Zahed, born Alphonse Louis Constant, was a French occult author, socialist, and ceremonial magician. His "Histoire de la Magie" was first published in 1860. (Please see our available copy of this original First Edition.) Lévi exerted a profound influence on those occultists who would follow, including the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, Helen Blavatsky, and Aleister Crowley, among others. The work is divided into 7 "Books":
- The Derivations of Magic
- Formation and Development of Dogmas
- Divine Synthesis and Realisation of Magia by the Christian Revelation
- Magic and Civilisation
- The Adepts and the Priesthood
- Magic and the Revolution
- Magic in the Nineteenth Century
Levi's work offers a thorough and broad examination of magic and the occult from ancient times to the occult revival of the 19th century, with topics including:
- Magic of the Magi
- Hermetic Magic
- The Holy Kabbalah
- Mysticism
- Superstitions
- Magical Monuments
- The Devil
- The Last Pagans
- Influence of Women
- Magicians
- On Certain Alchemists
- Magical Origin of Freemasonry
- The Illuminati
- Hallucinations
- Mesmerists and Somnabulists
- Magical Literature
- The Occult Sciences
- And so much more.
Firm binding; normal aging and wear to covers, with old dog-eared right corner; interior is clean and free of markings.
