ALCHEMY AND THE OCCULT: A Catalogue of Books and Manuscripts from the Collection of Paul and Mary Mellon Given to Yale University; With Essays by R.P. Multhauf & A. Jaffe / P. Kirbe, and Additional Notes by W. McGuire

New Haven: Yale University Press, 1977. ONLY EDITION. Very good. Complete set: 4 volumes in original two-tone cloth, black leather label on spines. Preserved in 2 slipcases with separate compartments for each volume (trifle wear to slipcases and spine label of vol. 1; internally excellent with no unsightly markings or stamps). NOT ex-library! ¶ LIMITED TO 500 SETS. Complete copies such as ours are now scarce on the market. Of considerable bibliographic and historic interest, this impressive achievement minutely describes 160 printed works (Vols. 1-2) and 149 manuscripts in the collection, beginning chronologically with Apollonius (circa 1225), and ending (truncated) with Thomas Taylor (1790). A splendid catalogue that includes detailed bibliographical descriptions for each of the 160 printed books; each is described with painstaking accuracy, and appears with illustrations. In Vols. 3-4, the 149 manuscripts are minutely described (most of these were purchased by Mellon from Denis Duveen).

These four volumes represent some of the "crown jewels" in the kingdom of hermetic bibliography, and continue to inspire and inform students and scholars of Witchcraft, Wicca, Pagan Ritual, Occult, folklore, anthropology, primitive races and customs, Mythology, Ancient Magical Practices, Ritual and Initiation, Secret Societies, Rosicrucian Egyptology, Ancient Magical practices, Aleister Crowley, Andrew Chumbley, Ceremonial and Black Magic, Grimoire, O.T.O. Golden Dawn, Alchemy Hermetics, Freemasonry, Kabalah, Cabala, Kenneth Grant, Austin Osman Spare, Chaos Magick, Church of Satan, Anton LaVey, Michael Aquino, Temple of Set, Demonology, Satanism, and more.

From the famed B.H. Breslauer collection (sale of the Bibliotheca Bibliographica Breslaueriana at Christie's New York, 27 June 2005, lot 1582), with letterpress bookplates loosely inserted into each volume.

PLEASE NOTE: together these four volumes weigh a staggering 29 lbs. and will require additional shipping charges. (Inventory #: 4045)