The History of Magic [1957] & Transcendental Magic: Its Doctrine and Ritual [1958]. (Two-Volume Matching Rider Set)

Matching Mid-Century Hardcover Set. Octavo (8vo), Two Volumes. Vol I (History of Magic, 1957 Seventh Impression): pp. 384, with 21 black and white illustrations throughout. Vol II (Transcendental Magic, 1958 Third Edition): pp. xxxi, 438, with 23 black and white illustrations throughout. Both volumes bound in the publisher’s original black cloth with bright gilt titles to the spines. The bindings are in Very Good condition, remaining solid, square, and tight, showing only minor, expected shelf wear to the tops and tails of the spines. Internally clean, crisp, and exceptionally bright throughout, with just a light touch of natural age-toning. Both volumes feature neat vintage ink ownership inscriptions to the front free endpapers. Housed in their striking, original matching red, black, and white illustrated dust jackets, now safely preserved in protective Mylar sleeves. The jackets are in Very Good condition overall, with light rubbing to the edges. Transcendental Magic remains unclipped and features a few discreet, neat historical tape reinforcements to the reverse side of the top and tail of the spine (not visible externally). An exceptional, uniformly preserved set of the two foundational masterworks that ignited the 19th-century Western Occult Revival. Éliphas Lévi’s writings fundamentally transformed modern ceremonial practice. These definitive Rider editions are translated, introduced, and critically annotated by the prominent occult scholar A.E. Waite, whose extensive footnotes provide essential comparisons to the Tarot, Kabbalah, and Rosicrucian thought. Incredibly scarce to find as a matching, clean mid-century pair in original dust jackets.…