COMMONSENSE ASTROLOGY
Book Details + Condition: Andrew Dakers Ltd. (London). Scarce First Edition, 1940. 270 pages, with b&w illustrations and charts. Owned by Diana Helen Tamara Mapplebeck, with her name on the front endpaper. Mapplebeck was known in the film industry as Tamara Lees, and was an Austrian-born English actress who appeared in 48 films. The author, Louis de Wohl, was born in Berlin to a poor Catholic family, with a mother of Jewish descent. In 1935, he emigrated to England due to his objections to the Nazi regime. Wohl later served as an astrologer notable for his work with MI5 during World War II. He was recruited initially by Sir Charles Hambro, then running the Special Operations Executive, to devise “black propaganda” for use against Germany, and allegedly as an informant because he was casting horoscopes for people of interest to MI5. (In this book, he provides a chapter on Adolf Hitler.) In 1941, he was sent to America to contribute to astrological magazines and newspapers, which at the time were using articles by astrologers favorable to Nazi Germany. While in America, Wohl published many articles, and lectured against Germany. Sixteen of his popular pre-war novels were the basis of movies. Contents include: The Re-Birth of Astrology; Significance of the Planets; How a Horoscope is Cast; Adolf HItler; Astrologer's Case-Book; and more. Wear to boards, rubbed corners and edges, tight binding, toned endpapers, slight lean to book, free of markings save actress' name on front endpaper.
