The History of Magic : Including a Clear and Precise Exposition of Its Procedure, Its Rites and Its Mysteries

Eliphas Levi (Alphonse Louis Constant) [Éliphas Lévi Zahed ] Translated, with a Preface and Notes, by Arthur Edward Waite [A.E. Waite]

ISBN 10: 0877286140 / ISBN 13: 9780877286141

Published by Rider/Samuel Weiser, Inc., Maine/London Melbourne Auckland Johannesburg, 1982

About this Item

Maine/London Melbourne Auckland Johannesburg: Rider/Samuel Weiser, Inc., 1982 - 1986 Printing w/ Weiser Cancel Slip to copyright page "This American Edition by Samuel Weiser, Inc. York Beach, ME 03910", additionally changing original ISBN : 0-09-150041-9 to ISBN : 0-87728-077-0. An evidently Unread copy, light page tone, still Fine Indeed (see scan). RARE in condition thus. Reissued as a Rider Pocket Edition. Soft Cover. Fine. Illus. by IX Full-page Illustrations. 8vo size - over 8¼" tall.

Seller Inventory # 933336

Bibliographic Details

• Title: The History of Magic : Including a Clear and Precise Exposition of Its Procedure, Its Rites and Its Mysteries
• Publisher: Rider/Samuel Weiser, Inc., Maine/London Melbourne Auckland Johannesburg
• Publication Date: 1982
• ISBN 10: 0877286140
• ISBN 13: 9780877286141
• Binding: Soft cover
• Edition: 1st Edition
• Condition: Fine

About this title

Synopsis

This is the first part of Eliphas Levi's last great descourse on the mysteries of occultism that was continued and concluded in The Great Secret.

In it, Levi examines with great precision and insight the inner meanings of Qabalism and their relationship to the occult sciences. Part One is a commentary on the Spihra Dzeniuta by Simeon BenJochal, which includes an examination of the affinities between Qabalism and Freemasonry. Part Two pursues the correspondences between Qabalism, Numerology and the Tarot.

This edition includes an appendix by Papus (Dr. Gerard Encausse) summarizing Levi's doctrines and teachings and supplying some fascinating information on some of the master's many disciples.

About the Author

Alphonse Louis Constant, better know by his pen name Eliphas Levi, was a master of the traditional Rosicrucian interpretation of the Kabbalah. He was born in France in 1810, and through the offices of the parish priest, was educated for the church at SaintSulpice. He was later expelled from seminary for teaching doctrines contrary to those of the Roman Catholic Church. In 1824 Levi began studying the occult sciences, and wrote about magic and the Kabbalah for the next three decades. His other books include Transcendental Magic, Mysteries of the Qabalah, and The Book of Splendours.