OPUSCULA MAGICA. Volumes I and II: Essays on Witchcraft and The Sabbatic Tradition. Special Private Reserve Issues. by CHUMBLEY, Andrew D - 2010

Three Hands Press., 2010. First Editions, First Printings, Special Editions. Full Leather. Fine. Two Volumes. Octavo, original full black morocco (Vol 1) and full brown morocc (Vol II), both embossed with a design by Chumbley in blind on the front panel, spine panel titled in gilt, hand-marbled endpapers, silk ribbon markers. The Private Reserve Edition, issed in an edition of only 11 copies bound in full leather for private distribution, these are copies No. 2 (Vol 1) and No. 11 (Vol II). 149 + 149 pp., Illustrated. Fine copies in fine felt-lined slipcases, without dust jacket, as issued.

¶ The Opuscula Magica treats in these two volumes the short exegetical works on magic by the British occult author Andrew D. Chumbley (1967-2004). The series presents his magical essays, homilies, and other obscure works which originally appeared in small-circulation occult journals now out of print. Each volume presents a series of collated works, some revised or updated prior to his death, as well as a number of writings and illustrations previously unpublished. Together with his grimoire-texts of the magical order Cultus Sabbati, these ‘minor works on magic’ are the origination-point and foundation texts of Sabbatic Witchcraft and Crooked Path Sorcery, two of Chumbley’s most important contributions to the Art Magical. With the intent to make these works more widely available to scholars and magical practitioners, the series is printed and bound in a fine book format suited to their study and preservation. The series editor is Daniel A. Schulke. Opuscula Magica Volume One contains nine essays written between 1990 and 2003, including one previously unpublished. This volume also includes an Author’s Introduction never before published, as well as an expanded version of the interview with Chumbley in The Cauldron. Volume Two contains ten essays written between 1992 and 2000, including one previously unpublished. Expanding upon themes developed in Opuscula Volume I, the book also treats Crooked Path Sorcery, a transcendental ethos of traditional witchcraft having parallels in such traditions as Petro Voudon. Also new in this volume is an Author's Preface, as well as Robert Fitzgerald's rare 1996 interview with Chumbley in Esoterra. The 1999 article 'Gnosis For the Flesh Eternal' appears here for the first time, being a much-expanded version of 'Wisdom For the New Flesh' which first appeared in Starfire. Included in this second volume are nine Azoëtia-era illustrations which have never before seen print. The essays reflect a degree of magical insight, clarity of vision, and creativity seldom equaled in occult writing to this day.