Catalogue · Texts & Manuscripts
Texts & manuscripts · Liber XIII
The texts of High Magick
19 works, arranged by date — each dated, summarised and brought up to date with current editions and scholarship. Complete texts are in the reading room.
Lucidarium of Necromancy (attributed to Peter of Abano) Lucidarium in arte magica Lucidarium artis nigromantice Lucidarium Magistri Petri de Abbano LatinAttributed to Peter of Abano; pseudepigraphic · Late medieval; principal manuscript c. 1533–1566
Steganographia Steganographia: hoc est, ars per occultam scripturam animi sui voluntatem absentibus aperiendi certa Secret Writing LatinJohannes Trithemius (1462–1516) · c. 1499–1500; first printed 1606
Fourth Book of Occult Philosophy Liber quartus de occulta philosophia, seu de ceremoniis magicis Of Magical Ceremonies LatinPseudo-Agrippa (falsely attributed to Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa) · first printed 1559; English translation 1655
Heptameron, or Magical Elements Heptameron seu Elementa Magica Elementa Magica Petri de Abano Latin (English by Robert Turner, 1655)Attributed to Peter of Abano (c. 1257–c. 1316); the attribution is spurious · Late medieval text; first printed 1559 (Marburg) with Agrippa's Fourth Book
Arbatel: Of the Magic of the Ancients Arbatel de magia veterum Arbatel of Magick LatinAnonymous; authorship debated (Jacques Gohory and Swiss Paracelsian circles have been proposed) · Basel, 1575; English translation 1655
The Five Books of Mystery Mysteriorum Libri Quinque Libri Mysteriorum I–V English (with Latin)John Dee (1527–1608), recording sessions with the scryers Barnabas Saul and Edward Kelley · December 1581 – May 1583
John Dee’s Holy Table and Lamen Table of Practice Mensa Foederis EnglishDesigns revealed in John Dee’s angelic sessions; reference article by Joseph H. Peterson · designs received 1582–1583
Liber Loagaeth (The Book of Speech from God) Mysteriorum Liber Sextus et Sanctus Liber Mysteriorum Sextus et Sanctus Book of Enoch Enochian (Angelic) lettersReceived by John Dee and Edward Kelley through angelic communication; written out in Kelley’s hand · dictated March–May 1583
Invocations of the Good Angels (Dee’s Book of Supplications) Tabula bonorum angelorum invocationes The Booke of Invocations or Calls The Book of Supplications or Invocations LatinJohn Dee (1527–1608) · compiled from sessions of 1584–1587
Heptarchia Mystica (The Mystical Heptarchy) De Heptarchia Mystica Collectaneorum Liber Primus Compendium Heptarchiae Mysticae Liber exercitii Heptarchici English and LatinJohn Dee (1527–1608) · compiled 1582–1588 from sessions of 1582–1583
Mathematical Magic De magia mathematica LatinGiordano Bruno (1548–1600), as compiler · c. 1590; first printed 1891
The Book of Abramelin The Book of the Sacred Magic of Abramelin the Mage Die egyptischen großen Offenbarungen Buch Abramelin German (Mathers’ version translated from a French manuscript)Presented as the work of ‘Abraham the Jew’ (Abraham of Worms) for his son Lamech; actual author unknown · set in 1458; probably composed c. 1595–1610; first printed 1725; Mathers’ English 1898
The Magical Calendar Calendarium Naturale Magicum Perpetuum Tabula Votiva LatinAttributed to Johann Baptista Großschedel; engraved by Johann Theodor de Bry · Title page dated 1614; published c. 1617–1618
A True and Faithful Relation A True & Faithful Relation of What Passed for Many Yeers Between Dr. John Dee … and Some Spirits English (with Latin)John Dee’s spirit diaries, edited with a preface by Meric Casaubon (1599–1671) · sessions 1583–1607; published London, 1659
Theosophia Pneumatica Claviculae Salomonis et Theosophia Pneumatica Little Keys of Solomon GermanAnonymous; adapted from the Arbatel; printed by Andreas Luppius · Printed Wesel, 1686; reprinted in Scheible's Das Kloster, 1840s- Verus Jesuitarum Libellus The True Petition of the Jesuits Verus Jesuitarum Libellus seu Citatio LatinFalsely associated with the Jesuits; anonymous German compiler · Imprint 'Paris 1508' (spurious); probably 18th century; reprinted by Scheible 1840s
Sibly's Illustration of the Occult Sciences, Part IV A New and Complete Illustration of the Celestial Science of Astrology A New and Complete Illustration of the Occult Sciences EnglishEbenezer Sibly (1751–c. 1799) · First issued in parts from 1784; many later editions
The Sixth and Seventh Books of Moses Das sechste und siebente Buch Mosis Sixth and Seventh Books of Moses, or Moses' Magical Spirit-Art German (English translation)Pseudepigraphically attributed to Moses; German compilation · Published by Johann Scheible, Stuttgart, 1849; English translation New York, 1880
The Magic Wand: Sources and Lore Magic wand lore Virga magica English (with Latin and other source quotations)Compiled by Joseph H. Peterson · Web study (ongoing)