Details
SYMPATHETIC MAGIC AND DIVINATION, - manuscript in English, [England, early 18th century], folio (325 x 195mm.). 169 pages (early pagination), written in a fine cursive hand, numerous diagrams in ink (general marginal browning or soiling, one index leaf torn with loss to blank margin). Late 19th-century morocco (joints and extremities rubbed).
The anonymous author explains at the beginning of the manuscript "What is the thing whereof I doe intend to write, the matter of this work is magick which is the greatest art which God has left unto men & is divided into many parts whereof I doe purpose to show the good reader is called in lattin Magia Occultissima which is the most secret art & the most noble science whereby a man may be verified of all things doubtfull & uncertain..." The treatise is wide ranging: conjuration (and control) of spirits and angels, 'Experimentum de Invisibilate', how to deal with thieves, theft, diseases and enemies, 'Concerning treasure Hidden' and 'Pro Amore' (including 'for a maids Thought... Take a Stone that men Call agate & lay it on her left tooth when she is asleep'). It may lack a title, although the text is complete, as is the 5pp. index at the end.
The anonymous author explains at the beginning of the manuscript "What is the thing whereof I doe intend to write, the matter of this work is magick which is the greatest art which God has left unto men & is divided into many parts whereof I doe purpose to show the good reader is called in lattin Magia Occultissima which is the most secret art & the most noble science whereby a man may be verified of all things doubtfull & uncertain..." The treatise is wide ranging: conjuration (and control) of spirits and angels, 'Experimentum de Invisibilate', how to deal with thieves, theft, diseases and enemies, 'Concerning treasure Hidden' and 'Pro Amore' (including 'for a maids Thought... Take a Stone that men Call agate & lay it on her left tooth when she is asleep'). It may lack a title, although the text is complete, as is the 5pp. index at the end.