Occult Spells - A Nineteenth Century Grimoire

[York Beach, Maine]: The Teitan Press, 2009. First Edition. Hardcover. Octavo. xvi + 72 + 120pp. Limited to 500 hand-numbered copies, this being No. 498. Bound in original black cloth titled in gilt on spine, and gilt sigil & title to front panel. Color frontispiece. A fine copy, issued without dust jacket. The work begins with a 9 page Introduction, followed by a typeset transcription of the text of the grimoire which runs 72 pages. It contains explanatory footnotes, translations of the passages in Latin, etc. The final section is a 120 page facsimile of the original manuscript of the grimoire, printed on special coated paper.Occult Spells is an esoteric commonplace book in which Hockley recorded material on different spells, talismans, and charms that he came across in rare books and manuscripts in the course of his researches. This research came from many different sources including classic occult works such as Saunders' Physiognomie, and Chiromancie, Metoposcopie (1671), John Heydon's Theomagia (1662-64), and Agrippa's Three Books of Occult Philosophy (1651). More obscure works also caught Hockley’s attention such as Pettigrew's Bibliotheca Sussexiana (1827), and various grimoires such as the Petit Albert. The spells and talismans provided range from Enochian invocations, through folk magic, and into the darker realms of necromancy. This is the first ever publication of Occult Spells and includes an Introduction and transcription of the text by Silens Manus, who has also restored illegible words and phrases from the original sources, and has added footnotes explaining deity names, obscure phrases and passages, and more. This volume offers a rare insight into the occult preoccupations of Hockley, whose work arguably had a profound effect on the late nineteenth century Occult Revival.