Details + Condition: Original hand-colored occult engraving from the 1825 first edition (thus), of THE ASTROLOGER OF THE 19th CENTURY by Raphael (pseudonym for Robert Cross Smith). Scarce. This plate is titled "Original Fragments", subtitled "Relative to the Appearance of Apparitions, and the Secrets of the Invisible World, most of which have recently occurred, and none of which have ever been published". It depicts a procession with religious figures and skeletons, with a church in the background - very much a memento mori scene. There is text on the reverse of the page (which refers to the previous section of the book).
Page measures: 5.25" x 8.75". Please see our other listings for additional occult engravings from the same book. Age toning / darkening present, and page edges are torn.
Robert Cross Smith (1795-1832) was an astrologer, magician, and geomancer. Smith founded the periodical, The Straggling Astrologer in 1824, but failed to receive enough subscribers and the periodical had to be discontinued after a few issues. He collected the issues of the failed periodical in a volume entitled The Astrologer Of The Nineteenth Century in the same year. These writings dealt with topics as varied as alchemy, charms, the virtues of herbs and stones, invoking spirits into crystals, evoking demons, evoking spirits into circles, necromancy, geomancy, palmistry, physiognomy, and more.
