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The Flyleaf: IOBA Newsletter
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October 2016
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This Month: The Occult
All Hallow's Eve (October 31), the day before All Hallow's Day (or in the Christian vernacular: All Saint's Day), evolved into
Halloween sometime in the middle 18th Century. Both days were part of Allhallowtide, the time in the liturgical year dedicated to remembering the dead, including saints (hallows), martyrs, and all the faithful departed.
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During the years since, the celebrations have evolved to reflect more of the macabre and the occult - the fear of death, the presence of malignant spirits, and the witches that accompanied them.
This month we present books on the occult or "the study of a deeper spiritual reality that extends beyond pure reason and the physical sciences." Because that study often included the search for life after death, it is appropriate that at Halloween - All Hallow's Eve - we explore the interest authors have had in something "beyond."
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In the Devil's Snare: The Salem Witchcraft Crisis of 1692
Mary Beth Norton
New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2002
First Printing
Hardcover
Fine in fine dust jacket
SIGNED on the title page.
A new study of the witchcraft crisis in Salem, one which also places it in the broader New England political and social context, including the Indian wars on the Maine frontier.
Map, several appendices, extensive notes, index. 436 pp.
Available Here.
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Asmodeus Or The Devil upon Two Sticks
A. R. Le Sage
Hurst and Company, n.d. circa1880
Hardcover, no Dust Jacket issued
Very good condition
Translated from the French. Illustrations of Tony Johannot. "The Devil upon Two Sticks," or "Le Diable Boiteaux," is a satirical fantasy on the follies and vices of mankind, set in Madrid. Written by the French comic writer A.R. Le Sage.
Dark-red cloth covered boards. Spine titles stamped gilt. Decorated endpages. Light handling wear. Bindings tight and square. Title page toned. Text clean, minor even toning.7.5 inches tall, 332 pages. [n.d. circa1880].
Available Here.
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Witchcraft and Sorcery in East Africa
John Middleton & E. H. Winter, editors
London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1969
First printing
Hardcover
Very near fine in a like dust jacket.
Includes "ten essays by anthropologists on the beliefs and practices associated with witches and sorcerers in Eastern Africa, . . all based on field research and new information which is studied within its wider social context."
Among the topics are John Beattie on Sorcery in Bunyoro; T.O. Beidelman on Witchcraft in Ukaguru; Jean Buxton on Mandari Witchcraft; Mary Douglas, on Techniques of Sorcery Control in Central Africa; and more.
Foreword by E. E. Evans-Pritchard. Index. vii, 302 pp.
Available Here.
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Magic, Witchcraft, and Religion: An Anthropological Study of the Supernatural
Arthur C. Lehmann and James E. Myers, editors
Mountain View, CA: Mayfield Publishing Company, 1996
Fourth Edition
Trade Paperback.
A comprehensive anthology containing essays by many anthropologists include Claude Levi-Strauss, Peter Furst, Francis Huxley, Bronislaw Malinowski, Carl Sagan, Lawrence Wright and others.
This edition includes nine new articles. Among the sections are those on shamans, on the religious use of drugs, and on ethnomedicine.
Fine in glossy illustrated wrappers. Map, an extensive bibliography, glossary and index. Slightly oversized square format. 474 pp. Available Here.
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Library of Mesmerism and Psychology: In Two Volumes, Comprising Philosophy of Mesmerism, On Fascination, Electrical Psychology, The Macrocosm, Science of the Soul
Fishbough, William, John B. Newman, John Bovee Dods, Joseph Haddock
New York: Samuel R. Wells (Publisher), 1873
Hardcover, no Dust Jacket
Very Good
Two volumes bound as one. Works include
The Macrocosm and Microcosm by Fishbough;
Fascination or the Philosophy of Charming by Newman;
The Philosophy of Electrical Psychology by Dods;
Six Lectures on the Philosophy of Mesmerism also by Dods; and
Psychology or the Science of the Soul by Haddock.
Publishers brown cloth, blindstamped decorations to boards, gilt lettering to spine. Volumes have title pages that are not dated, includes five separate works each with their own title page bearing 1873 publication dates. Illustrated. 5-1/4" x 7-3/4"; 259+176+252+82+112 pp; Light cover wear including slight fraying at bottom of spine, prior owner name stamped inside front cover, solid hinges, a few pages with small spots, text is unmarked and generally clean.
Available Here.
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The Silver Bullet and Other American Witch Stories
Davis, Hubert J., compiler
Publisher: Middle Village, NY, Jonathan David Publishers, 1975
First printing
Hardcover
Very good in a very good dustjacket (some wear to ends of spine)
From the front flap:
"Among the more interesting jobs created by the W.P.A. (Works Progress Administration) during the depression years of the 1930s, was the Virginia Writers Project. The idea was to have a group of authors, editors, and reporters fan out among the coves and hollows of the Appalachian Mountains and record the beliefs, superstitions and traditions of the mountain folk.
"These stories were then transcribed and sent to Richmond with the intention of publishing a book on Virginia folklore. The ultimate goal was never accomplished, and the hundreds of stories that were collected were eventually placed in the archives of the University of Virginia, in Charlottesville.
"[this book] draws heavily on the Virginia Project, but goes much beyond it. .. [ in addition to Scottish, Irish and German stories of the Appalachians] tales about Cajuns, Indians and people of Spanish backgrounds are incorporated, enlarging the scope of the book to national proportions.
"Through the more than 75 stories selected for inclusion, there emerges a comprehensive overview of the beliefs and practices of a segment of the population to whom witches and witchcraft were a basic way of living and thinking."
Divided into 4 sections, based on themes - section one is about people who wanted to be witches, the last section contains stories on how to break spells. 231 pp.
Available Here.
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R&A Petrilla: Some October Acquisitions
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