An Oxonian. ( Samuel Reynolds Hole, Dean of Rochester, 1819-1904 ). Thaumaturgia, or Elucidations of The Marvellous. (FIRST EDITION - 1835)

AUTHOR: An Oxonian. ( Samuel Reynolds Hole, Dean of Rochester, 1819-1904 ). 

TITLE: Thaumaturgia, or Elucidations of The Marvellous.

PUBLISHER: London: Edward Churton, 1835.

DESCRIPTION: FIRST EDITION. 1 vol., (vii)362pp(i), bound in the original pebble grained green cloth, engraved armorial bookplate to front pastedown.

CONDITION: Mild toning to edges of pages otherwise internally clean and bright, front cover and spine detached, in need of a relining, still a GOOD copy.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: EXCEEDINGLY SCARCE.  Only 7 copies have ever appeared at auction the last one in 1925.

Written by Oxonian, which typically indicates an individual who is a member of the University of Oxford, England. This work presents information on a bevy of spiritual, supernatural, and religious topics. A very thorough guide to several mystical topics.  It presents a thoughtful look at ideas that some might consider bizarre or strange.

Some of the highlights from the work include a detailed discussion of demonology, the devil, his predilection for old women, and traditions concerning evil spirits in the first chapter; a comprehensive exploration of magic and it's forms, and the rites of magic in the second and third chapters, and a detailed exploration in chapter three of the magic of augury, auspices, and divination. The publication goes on to address such adventurous topics as the deep-seated causes of dreams, the art of healing by visionary divination, and the history of the oracles. Anchoring these mystical flights of fancy are the scholarly sources for which an Oxonian is known to draw from, allowing the reader to further explore the root of these mysteries from primary and secondary source accounts.