THE 6th AND 7th BOOKS OF MOSES, OR MOSES' MAGICAL SPIRIT ART - KNOWN AS THE WONDERFUL ARTS OF THE OLD WISE HEBREWS, TAKEN FROM THE MOSAIC BOOKS OF THE CABALA AND THE TALMUD, FOR THE GOOD OF MANKIND.
Book Details + Condition: Circa early 1900s edition of the famous grimoire. "Published for the Trade." Softcover. 190 pages, with b&w illustrations. Original printed wrappers. A solid and clean copy of a scarce early edition, with minor wear to covers, with some darkening; tight binding; interior is free of markings. Part of title page (the edge) is glued to the front cover - someone appears to have done a bit of gluing in the binding. Despite the text being of relatively recent origin - most scholars suggest it first began to appear in manuscript form in the 18th century - The Sixth and Seventh Books of Moses is arguably one of the most influential of all the grimoires. It contains a series of magical incantations, spells and seals purportedly from the lost magical Books of the Biblical prophet Moses. The work apparently originated in Germany and then spread to America via the Pennsylvania Dutch, and their "pow-wow" books. It began to appear in print in the late nineteenth century, and became popular in the African American South and also in the Caribbean, and West Africa, making its mark on the Hoodoo, Rastafarian, and various African religious movements, as well as on European and American occultists.
