This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 10/20/2022
[OCCULT]. TAYLOR, Thomas (1758–1835), translator. Iamblichus on the Mysteries of the Egyptians, Chaldeans, and Assyrians. Translated from the Greek by Taylor. Chiswick: C. Whittingham for Taylor, 1821. 8vo. Half–title. Original green cloth, printed paper spine label (spine sunned, label worn, some chipping at extreme ends, front hinge cracked). (Some occasional spotting). Provenance: Duke of Manchester (armorial bookplate). FIRST EDITION of this rare translation that has only sold twice at auction in the past century. “Iamblichus was one of the most important of the group of Neo–Platonists that embraced magical practices, and a devoted student of the works of the mystic and mathematician, Pythagoras. In this work – once considered a magical text of great significance – Iamblichus presents a detailed discussion on Theurgy and the higher development of the self, framed in the terms of an exchange with Porphyry. The translator, Thomas Taylor, was a leading exponent of Neo–Platonic thought, and was largely responsible for it’s rediscovery in English–speaking esoteric circles, by his translations of Iamblichus, Proclus, Porphyry and other Neoplatonists and Pythagoreans. Taylor, a one–time bank–clerk who devoted himself to the classics, was said to be such a devotee of Hellenic paganism that he and his wife spoke only to one another in classical Greek, and his translations were for decades those most commonly used” (Weiser Antiquarian Books catalogue note).