WILLIAM WYNN WESTCOTT: ESOTERIC PUBLICATIONS as at October 2021
Before the lists start, two things:
Firstly, I’d be very surprised if the lists below were complete. If you know of other esoteric works published by Westcott, please contact me at the email address at the end of this file.
Secondly, a lot of the publications I list below are not easy to find. However, some have been edited and published by R A Gilbert.
R A Gilbert’s The Magical Mason: Forgotten Hermetic Writings of William Wynn Westcott, Physician and Magus. Published Wellingborough: Aquarian Press 1983.
R A Gilbert’s A Magus Among the Adepts published Teitan Press 2012. This book seems to be a rarity on its own account.
Some of Westcott’s books were also reissued, often with new introductions, during the 1970s and 1980s by esoteric publishers in the UK and the US.
Below I give four lists, of Westcott’s works: as author; as reviewer; as editor, compiler, translator or any combination of those; and as contributor to the works of others. I am not including any of the Flying Rolls as Westcott did not publish any of them.
LIST ONE: AS AUTHOR, either under his own name or one of his 2 GD mottos: Non Omnis Moriar (NOM) or Sapere Aude (SA). In any year, the works where the month of publication is known are listed before those just giving the year.
Very many of Westcott’s publications are in the various Transaction volumes of Societas Rosicruciana in Anglia (SRIA)’s Metropolitan College; these are all available at the Freemasons’ Library and some are at the British Library too.
1885
The Occult Meaning and Origin of the Signs of the Zodiac. Westcott gave this talk at the Metropolitan College meeting of 8 January 1885. SRIA Metropolitan College Transactions 1885: 6-9 for the text; 1-2 for the date of the talk.
Rosicrucian Thoughts on the Ever-Burning Lamps of the Ancients, by Westcott, as a member of SRIA. London: George Kenning as a reprint from an article in The Freemason. The BL has a 1979 edition of this published London and Grant Court SW19; with David Medina as contributor. There’s also a copy of it bound with the SRIA Metropolitan College Transactions volume covering 1909-12, at the Freemasons’ Library.
1886
The Reconciliation Between the Chemistry of the Future and the Alchemy of the Past.
SRIA Metropolitan College Transactions 1886: 14-16.
1886-88
The Religion of Freemasonry Illustrated by the Kabalah. Ars Quatuor Coronatorum volume 1 p55: this had been a talk, given by Westcott at the Quatuor Coronati 2076 meeting of 8 July 1887.
Details from Ars Quatuor Coronati: A Concise Index to the Transactions of the Quatuor Coronati Lodge Number 2076 Volumes 1-80 compiled for the Lodge by A R Hewitt and H G Massey 1971.
1887
The Zelator Ritual of the Societas Rosicruciana of the United States of America. Westcott gave this talk at the Metropolitan College meeting of 13 October 1887. SRIA Metropolitan College Transactions 1887-88: 10-12 for the text, which was a shortened version of the talk; 8-9 for the date of the talk. If SRIA members wanted to see the full text, Westcott had some manuscript versions available.
Tabula Bembina Sive Mensa Isiaca ie the Isiac Tablet of Cardinal Bembo: Its History and Occult Significance. By W Wynn Westcott. Published Bath; R H Fryer and includes a photograph. There have been a couple of recent editions:
- 1976 Los Angeles: Philosophical Research Society
- c 2007 Nottingham: Hell Fire Club.
Lucifer: A Theosophical Magazine. Published by the Theosophical Publishing Society of 7 Duke Street Adelphi. Volume 1 issue of 15 October 1887 p149 had an uncredited review of it; and on p159 there was a letter about it from the publisher, R H Fryar.
Interjection from Sally Davis on the signficance of 1888: it was the year the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn was founded, and its first members initiated.
1888
Rosicrucianism and Trance. Westcott gave this talk at the Metropolitan College meeting of 12 January 1888. SRIA Metropolitan College Transactions 1887-88: 9, 13 for the talk; 15-16 for the text which had previously been published in The Medium, on 30 September 1887.
A Note on the Geheime Figuren der Rosenkreuzer aus dem 16ten und 17ten Jahrundert, an old Manuscript published Altona 1785. Westcott gave this talk at the Metropolitan College meeting of 11 October 1888. SRIA Metropolitan College Transactions 1888-89 19-21 for the text which included the Prayer of a Rosicrucian; 5 for the date of the talk.
1889
The Fama Fraternitatis Rosae Crucis. Westcott gave this talk at the Metropolitan College meeting of 10 January 1889. SRIA Metropolitan College Transactions 1888-89: 6, 8 for the date of the talk; 22-24 for the text.
Numbers: their Occult Power and Mystic Virtues was one of Westcott’s most significant works and probably the most widely known amongst contemporary occultists.
Its publication began with a serialisation in Lucifer: A Theosophical Magazine. Published by the Theosophical Publishing Society of 7 Duke Street Adelphi and edited at this stage by Helena Petrovna Blavatsky and Annie Besant. Part 1 of Numbers was in Volume IV issue of 15 August 1889 p22 confirming Westcott as the author. There was also a letter from him in that issue, p517.
The serialisation continued into Volume V, ending with the issue of 15 February 1890 pp454-59.
Numbers... was then published, in 1890, in book form. In the Preface Westcott wrote that most of the text had been written seven years previously – that is, around 1883 - with parts of it being copied out and lent to interested acquaintances. He had revised the seven-year-old text slightly, adding quotes he’d taken from Helena Petrovna Blavatsky’s The Secret Doctrine, which he described as “a work of immense erudition and containing a vast fund of archaic doctrine”. Westcott said that the book could not hope to be comprehensive; and he had consulted so many works that he was not going to give a full bibliography. He recommended that readers wanting to pursue the subject further should read the works of Eliphas Lévi and Michael Maier.
You can see this edition online via google.
A second edition was published in 1902 in the series Collectanea Hermetica as its volume 9. In 1911 a 3rd edition was published as a stand-alone volume. It was reissued in 1983 by Allied Publications of New York and you can see it via google. It then had to wait until 1974 for a 4th edition.
The third edition is online at archive.org.
1890
Shades of Harry Potter in the next two publications. The GD got there first!
The Mandrake Plant in Genesis. Westcott gave this talk at the Metropolitan College meeting of 9 January 1890, bringing with him a mandrake plant root to show the members how human it could look. SRIA Metropolitan College Transactions 1889-90: 15-18 for the text and drawings; 9 for the date of the talk.
The Basilisk and the Cockatrice. Westcott gave this talk at the Metropolitan College meeting of 11 April 1889. SRIA Metropolitan College Transactions 1889-90: 11-13 for the text; 1, 4 for the date of the talk.
Dream Knowledge. A short account of Westcott getting help from a dream when trying to identify some crystals. Published in Lucifer: A Theosophical Magazine. Published by the Theosophical Publishing Society of 7 Duke Street Adelphi: issue of May 1890 p248.
Hermetic Notes - The Powers and Privileges of Magi. Again this was short. Published in Lucifer: A Theosophical Magazine. Published by the Theosophical Publishing Company of 7 Duke Street Adelphi: issue of June 1890 p275-277; with Westcott as FTS and also “Fra. Rosae Crucis”.
Hermetic Views on the Powers of Numbers. Westcott gave this talk at the Metropolitan College meeting of 9 October 1890. SRIA Metropolitan College Transactions 1890-91: 8-10 for the text; 6,7 for the date of the talk.
Masons’ Marks and their Relation to the Secret Magical Alphabets and Numerals of Cornelius Agrippa. Ars Quatuor Coronatorum volume 3 1890.
Details from Ars Quatuor Coronati: A Concise Index to the Transactions of the Quatuor Coronati Lodge Number 2076 Volumes 1-80 compiled for the Lodge by A R Hewitt and H G Massey 1971.
1891
The Ten Sephiroth. Published in Lucifer: A Theosophical Magazine. Published by the Theosophical Publishing Society of 7 Duke Street Adelphi: issue of March 1891 p48.
Interjection by Sally Davis of another important event in the occult world: Helena Petrovna Blavatsky died of flu on 8 May 1891.
England: An Address on Helena P Blavatsky. Published in Lucifer: A Theosophical Magazine. Published by the Theosophical Publishing Society of 7 Duke Street Adelphi: issue of June 1891 p337.
The Curious and Ancient Book Called The Chemical Wedding of Christian Rosenkreuz. Westcott gave this talk at the Metropolitan College meeting of 9 July 1891. SRIA Metropolitan College Transactions 1891-92: 9-10 for the text; 3-4 for the date of the talk.
The Kabbalah. Published in Lucifer: A Theosophical Magazine. Published by the Theosophical Publishing Society of 7 Duke Street Adelphi. In two parts: issue of August 1891 p465 and issue of September 1891 p27.
A Lecture to Enquirers into Theosophy and Practical Occultism. Theosophical Siftings volumes 3-4 1890-92 published Theosophical Publishing Society Adelphi London.
1892
The Curious Talismans once carried by a Sailor. Westcott gave this talk at the Metropolitan College meeting of 21 April 1892. SRIA Metropolitan College Transactions 1892-93: 7-8 for the text; 1, 3 for the date of the talk.
The Carte Philosophique et Mathematique of du Chanteau. Westcott gave this talk at the Metropolitan College meeting of 14 July 1892. SRIA Metropolitan College Transactions 1892-93: 10-12 for the text; 3, 4 for the date of the talk.
A Glance at the First Races of Mankind. Westcott as Sapere Aude. Theosophical Siftings volume 4 1892 p3.
Probably 1892
Some Anomalies in the Biblical Views of the Constitution of Man. Originally a talk given at the TS’s Adelphi Lodge in 1892. Theosophical Siftings volumes 5-7 1892-95 published Theosophical Publishing Society Adelphi London; volume 5.
1893
Christian Rosenkreuz and the Rosicrucians. Westcott as Westcott this time. Published in Theosophical Siftings volumes 5-7 1892-95 published by the Theosophical Publishing Society Adelphi London; volume 6.
Death. Westcott as Sapere Aude; originally a talk given at the TS’s Adelphi Lodge 6 February 1893. Published in Theosophical Siftings volumes 5-7 1892-95 published by the Theosophical Publishing Society Adelphi London; volume 6.
A Further Glance at the Kabbalah. Published in Lucifer: A Theosophical Magazine. Published by the Theosophical Publishing Society of 7 Duke Street Adelphi. Again in two parts: issue of April 1893 p197 and issue of May 1893 p203.
On the Symbolism of the Tabernacle. Published in Ars Quatuor Coronatorum volume 6.
Details from Ars Quatuor Coronati: A Concise Index to the Transactions of the Quatuor Coronati Lodge Number 2076 Volumes 1-80 compiled for the Lodge by A R Hewitt and H G Massey 1971.
The Science of Alchymy, Spiritual and Material. An Essay by Sapere Aude. London, New York, Adyar Madras: Theosophical Publishing Society. This was a lecture, given on 13 July 1893, I’m not sure of the venue but possibly the Adelphi Lodge again. There was a review of this in The Unknown World covering Alchemy, Magic, Divination, Rosicrucianism, Witchcraft, Astrology, Mysticism. Edited and by A E Waite. Volume 1 number 3 issued 15 October 1894 pp142. The review was anonymous and was probably by Waite himself.
The Two Pillars of Solomon. Westcott gave this talk at the Metropolitan College meeting of 12 October 1893. SRIA Metropolitan College Transactions 1893-94: 7-8 for the text, with the title changed to Hiram, Chiram and Hermes; 4 for the date of the talk.
1894
Ancient Magic. Westcott gave this talk at the Metropolitan College meeting of 12 July 1894. SRIA Metropolitan College Transactions 1894-95: 10-12 for the text; 3-4 for the date of the talk.
Christian Rosenkreuz and the Rosicrucians. Published London.
Rosicrucians, Their History and Aims. Article, published in Ars Quatuor Coronatorum volume 7 1894. Details from Ars Quatuor Coronati: A Concise Index to the Transactions of the Quatuor Coronati Lodge Number 2076 Volumes 1-80 compiled for the Lodge by A R Hewitt and H G Massey 1971.
1895
The Mystical Animals of the Middle Ages. Westcott gave this talk at the Metropolitan College meeting of 10 January 1895. SRIA Metropolitan College Transactions 1894-95: 13-15 for the text which was published with the title The Mystical Animals of Antiquity; 5-6 for the date of the meeting.
The Sphinx of Egypt. Westcott gave this talk at the Metropolitan College meeting of 10 October 1895. SRIA Metropolitan College Transactions 1895-96 p7 noted that this talk had been published in the Report of the West Scotia College of Rosicrucians; presumably the one for 1895.
The Doctrines of the Gnostics, or the Gnosis. I couldn’t find evidence that this had ever been a talk, but it was published in the SRIA Metropolitan College Transactions 1895-96: 8-12.
1899
The Philosophy of Judaism and of the Rabbinic Teachings. Originally a talk given by Westcott at SRIA’s Metropolitan College at the meeting of 12 January 1899. Published in the College’s Transactions 1898-99 pp8-10.
1900
Modern Mystics Compared with Ancient Mysticism. A talk Westcott gave at the SRIA’s Metropolitan College at the meeting of 11 October 1900. Published in the College’s Transactions to end 1900 pp8-11.
History of the Societas Rosicruciana in Anglia, by WWW. Privately printed in London. It was available to SRIA members by January 1901: information from SRIA Metropolitan College Transactions to end 1901 p2.
The Origin and History of Astrology. A talk by Westcott at SRIA Metropolitan College at the meeting of 10 October 1901. Published in College’s Transactions to end 1901 pp9-18. In 1902 it was published as a stand-alone booklet, as The History of Astrology.
1902
Angels: Jewish, Christian and Pagan. And The Devil and Evil Spirits According to the Bible and Ancient Hebrew Rabbis. ‘Angels’ was originally a talk by Westcott at the SRIA Metropolitan College meeting of 17 July 1902. Westcott doesn’t seem to have given the ‘devil’ as a talk but both were clearly a set. They were published in the College’s Transactions to end 1902 pp12-15 and pp17-23.
1903
The Magic Roll. Published in Ars Quatuor Coronatorum volume 16. Details from Ars Quatuor Coronati: A Concise Index to the Transactions of the Quatuor Coronati Lodge Number 2076 Volumes 1-80 compiled for the Lodge by A R Hewitt and H G Massey 1971.
1906
Notes on a Curious Certificate and Seal. Published in Ars Quatuor Coronatorum volume 19. Details from Ars Quatuor Coronati: A Concise Index to the Transactions of the Quatuor Coronati Lodge Number 2076 Volumes 1-80 compiled for the Lodge by A R Hewitt and H G Massey 1971.
It was then issued as a stand-alone pamphlet: Notes on a Curious Certificate and Seal. Margate.
1907
The Ruins of Zimbabwe and the Ophir of Solomon. Westcott gave this talk to the Metropolitan College study group on 12 July 1907. He’d just returned from a trip to KwaZulu Natal. SRIA Metropolitan College Transactions 1907: 29-36 for the text; 28 for the date of the talk.
In Memory of Robert Fludd. Westcott gave this as an Address, during a Metropolitan College outing to Fludd’s home on 14 September 1907. SRIA Metropolitan College Transactions 1907: 43-47.
1908
The Serpent Myth. Theosophical Review volume 42 March-August 1908. edited by G R S Mead and published London by the Theosophical Publishing Society of 3 Langham Place: issue of March 1908 p21. According to its listing in the US’s National Union Catalog pre-1956 Imprints volume 657 1979 p466 it was originally a talk, given during 1906 by Westcott to the Bradford lodge of the Order of Light.
Time and Space. Westcott gave this talk at the SRIA Metropolitan College meeting of 10 August 1908. Published SRIA Metropolitan College Transactions 1908: 48-55 for the text; 47 for the date of the talk.
1909
The Ancient Mysteries. Westcott gave this talk at the SRIA Metropolitan College meeting of 12 June 1909. Published SRIA Metropolitan College Transactions 1909; pp56-70 as An Essay on the Ancient Mysteries; p50 for the date of the talk.
The Rosicrucian Pilgrimage to Glastonbury Abbey and the Island of Avalon. Westcott gave this as an address to the SRIA Metropolitan College Study Group during their visit to Glastonbury on 17 July 1909. Published SRIA Metropolitan College Transactions 1909 pp52-55; p50 for the date of the visit.
1910
Divination and its History. Westcott gave this talk at the SRIA Metropolitan College meeting of 13 January1910. Published SRIA Metropolitan College Transactions 1910: pp3-21; p1 for the date of the talk.
An Introduction to the Study of the Kabbalah. Published London: John W Watkins; with 8 diagrams. A 2nd edition was published 1926, shortly after Westcott’s death; and there was a third one in 1978.
1911
The Religion, Philosophy and Occult Science of China. This doesn’t seem to have started out as a talk. It was published in the SRIA Metropolitan College Transactions 1911 pp55-64; it focused on the I-Ching.
Ordinances of the Societas Rosicruciana in Anglia. A new edition. Published London. A copy of them is bound with the SRIA Metropolitan College Transactions 1909-12.
1912
The Star Lore of the Bible. This was a talk; Westcott gave it at the meeting of the SRIA Metropolitan College on 11 January 1912. Published SRIA Metropolitan College Transactions 1912: pp5-16; p1 for the date of the talk.
1913
The Golden Age and Others. Westcott was meant to give this as a talk at the SRIA Metropolitan College meeting of 9 January 1913, but he was ill and couldn’t go to the meeting. Published SRIA Metropolitan College Transactions 1913: pp7-19.
1914
The Religion and Masonic Symbolism of Stones. Westcott gave this as a talk at the SRIA Metropolitan College meeting of 8 October 1914. Published with written comments from some of the people at the meeting, SRIA Metropolitan College Transactions 1914: pp39-48; p38 for the date of the talk.
An Essay Upon the Constitution of Man: Spirit, Soul, Body. Westcott gave this as a talk entitled Man Considered as Spirit, Soul and Body at the SRIA Metropolitan College meeting of 16 November 1914. Published SRIA Metropolitan College Transactions 1914: pp67-70; p72 for the date of the talk.
1915
Knots as Symbols. Westcott gave this as a talk to the SRIA Metropolitan College at its meeting of 14 January 1915. Published SRIA Metropolitan College Transactions 1915: pp7-11; p5 for the date of the talk.
Angels. Published in Occult Review volume 22 issue of October 1915: p227.
The Rosicrucians in England. This talk was given by Westcott at the SRIA Metropolitan College meeting of 14 October 1915. Published SRIA Metropolitan College Transactions 1915: pp38-44; p36 for the date of the talk, which was a summing-up of the SRIA’s first fifty years – it had been founded in 1865.
The Rosicrucians Past and Present: Address to the Societas Rosicruciana in Anglia. Published London.
1916
The Prehistoric Statues of Easter Island. Westcott gave this talk at the SRIA Metropolitan College meeting of 10 December 1916. Published, with a photograph, in SRIA Metropolitan College Transactions 1916: pp35-41; p35 for the date of the talk.
The Resemblances of Freemasonry to the Cult of Mithra (sic). Published in Ars Quatuor Coronatorum volume 29. Details from Ars Quatuor Coronati: A Concise Index to the Transactions of the Quatuor Coronati Lodge Number 2076 Volumes 1-80 compiled for the Lodge by A R Hewitt and H G Massey 1971.
1917
A Recent Spiritual Development. This was a talk, apparently about a supposed human ability to attain super-human powers. Westcott gave it at the SRIA Metropolitan College meeting of 12 April
1917. Published SRIA Metropolitan College Transactions 1917: pp18-25; p15 for the date of the talk.
1918
Symbolism of the Number Four. As usual this was a talk, given at the SRIA Metropolitan College meeting of 11 April 1918. Published SRIA Metropolitan College Transactions 1918: pp22-29; p20 for the date of the talk.
1920
The Symbolism of the Rose. This talk was given at the SRIA Metropolitan College meeting of 8 January 1920. Published SRIA Metropolitan College Transactions 1920: 8-16; p5 for the date of the talk.
1921
A Glance at the Life and Writings of Paracelsus, the Physician, Mystic and Reformer. This talk was Westcott’s swansong at the SRIA, given at the meeting of 14 April 1921, the second-last meeting he ever attended. Published SRIA Metropolitan College Transactions 1921: 20-31; p8 for the date of the talk.
UNDATED
The Rosicrucian: Past and Present at Home and Abroad, by WWW. Copy at the Freemasons’ Library, bound with other articles.
And finally, long after his death:
1944
The Legend of the Shamir. Published Miscellanea Latomorum or, Masonic Notes and Queries published privately and by subscription, Margate: W J Parrett Ltd of 28 Cecil Square. Editor: Col F M Rickard. Volume 28 number 6 February 1944: 81-87. A typescript with notes in Westcott’s handwriting is in the Freemasons’ Library. It has a slightly different title: The Shameer of King Solomon. The Shameer was originally prepared by Westcott in November 1888 as a talk to an audience of freemasons; though I haven’t been able to discover when and where he gave the talk. He went back to the subject in September 1910, intending a major rewrite that doesn’t seem to have got beyond making notes against and on the typed pages from 1888.
Thanks to FML archivist Susan Snell for spotting this while working on something else entirely, shortly after I’d asked her about the 1888/1910 typescript.
LIST TWO: AS REVIEWER. I found very few of these. I suppose Westcott didn’t have time for them.
1887 a review of Samuel Mathers’ The Kabbalah Unveiled. In Lucifer: A Theosophical Magazine Published by the Theosophical Publishing Society; edited by Helena Petrovna Blavatsky and Mabel Collins. Volume 1 number 2 15 October 1887 p141; under his own name.
1898 a review as Sapere Aude of The Canon: An Exposition of the Pagan Mystery Perpetuated in the Cabala. Published in Theosophical Review volume 22 March 1898 p85.
LIST THREE: AS EDITOR, COMPILER, TRANSLATOR or any combination of the three.
1887
Sepher Yetzirah translated from the Hebrew by “W Wynn Westcott”. Published Bath: R H Fryer. I can’t reproduce it but some Hebrew is printed before the English titles. There’s long subtitle: The Book of Formation and the 32 Paths of Wisdom. Some later editions have the subtitle changed slightly, to the ‘book of creation’.
There was a not especially favourable, uncredited, review of this in Lucifer: A Theosophical Magazine volume 1 issue of 15 January 1888 p401.
1890
English translation by Westcott of Michael Maier’s Atalanta Fugiens: or the Secrets of Nature. Published Lucifer: A Theosophical Magazine. London: Theosophical Publishing Society of 7 Duke St Adelphi. Volume 7 issue of 15 November 1890: pp238-240. Westcott described Maier as “perhaps the greatest Rosicrucian Philosopher”.
English translation by Westcott of The Magical Aphorisms of Eugenius Philalethes. Published Lucifer: A Theosophical Magazine. Published London: Theosophical Publishing Society of 7 Duke St Adelphi. Volume 7 issue of 15 December 1890: p328.
Nicholas Flamel: His Exposition of the Hieroglyphical Figures which he caused to be Painted upon an Arch in St Innocents Churchyard in Paris: concerning both the theory and practice of the philosophers stone/faithfully and religiously done into English out of the French copy, by Eirenaeus Orandus. Only 100 copies of this work were printed, by subscription. It was a new edition of an original printed in London in 1624. An introduction “To the subscribers” was provided by Robert H Fryar. Westcott edited the work and wrote a Preface.
Obviously, copies are hard to find – neither the Freemasons’ Library nor the British Library has one. There is one in the Wellcome Library which you can view online.
COLLECTANEA HERMETICA (CH) was Westcott’s most sustained publishing project: a series of volumes issued through the Theosophical Publishing Society between 1893 and 1902. More were planned than were issued. In CH’s volume 1 Westcott introduced the whole series as having been begun at the request of members of the SRIA, who wanted modern editions of occult tracts that had often been out of print for decades if not centuries. The project was announced to SRIA members at a meeting in October 1893; it was probably similarly announced to the members of the GD, but the minutes of the GD’s meetings haven’t survived. Though SRIA members had wanted the volumes issued, most of the work on the various tracts was done by a few GD members including Percy Bullock and Florence Farr.
Sources for the reason for the project:
CH volume 1 Preface 1 of 2; by Westcott.
SRIA Metropolitan College Transactions 1893-94 p4.
And just a note here that not all the catalogues of the libraries who have copies of CH use the volume numbers.
1893
CH Volume 1; 56 pages. An English translation of the Hermetic Arcanum of Penes Nos Unda Tagi first published in 1623. Author given as Jean d’Espagnet. As Sapere Aude, Westcott provided a Preface and Notes to the translation.
You can see this volume online at //issuu.com.
1894
CH Volume 2; 56 pages. The Pymander of Hermes. As editor of CH and using his own name, Westcott provided the Preface.
You can see this volume online at //issuu.com
There was a very short review of it by “HTE” – Henry Travers Edge - in
Lucifer: A Theosophical Magazine Published by Theosophical Publishing Society of 7 Duke Street Adelphi: volume XIV March-August 1894: p257.
1894
CH Volume 3; 52 pages. A Short Enquiry Concerning the Hermetic Art, by the author who used the writing name ‘A Lover of Philalethes’; originally published in London in 1714. Westcott as Non Omnes Moriar (NOM) provided a Preface. An introduction to alchemy, and notes on the work, were provided by ‘SSDD’ – the short-form of ‘Sapientia Sapienti Dono Data’ the rather enigmatic GD motto of Florence Farr.
You can see this volume at archive.org. There was a review of it, again by Edge, in Lucifer: A Theosophical Magazine volume XIV issue of 15 July 1894: pp429-30.
1894
CH Volume 4; 60 pages. Aesch Mezareph or Purifying Fire, a Chymico-Kabalistic Treatise Collected from the Kabala Denudata of Knorr von Rosenroth. Originally the annex to CH’s volume 2, The Short Enquiry… published in 1714 by the author who used the writing name ‘A Lover of Philalethes’. Westcott, this time as Sapere Aude, provided the Preface, Introduction and notes.
For anyone wanting to read volume 4 at the BL: the first word of the title is wrongly catalogued as ‘Wsch’ not Aesch; if you search for ‘Aesch Mezareph’ the CH version doesn’t come up.
You can see it online at //issuu.com.
There were two reviews of this volume in the contemporary occult press:
One by Henry Travers Edge, in Lucifer: A Theosophical Magazine volume XV issue of 15 January 1894 p425.
And one in the short-lived magazine The Unknown World covering Alchemy, Magic, Divination, Rosicrucianism, Witchcraft, Astrology, Mysticism; edited by A E Waite. Volume 1 number 4 issue of 15 November 1894 p190. The reviewer was anonymous but probably it was Waite himself.
1894
CH Volume 5; 72 pages but made up of three items, all of which are in the volume’s title.
- Marcus Tullius Cicero’s Somnium Scipionis, translated and with an essay on the subject by Levavi Oculos – the GD motto of Percy Bullock
- The Golden Verses of Pythagoras, translated and with notes by AEA - the short-form of the GD motto of Frank William Coleman.
- The Symbols of Pythagoras, translated and with notes by Westcott as Sapere Aude.
I couldn’t find this volume to read online.
There were reviews of this volume in both Lucifer and The Unknown World
- Lucifer: A Theosophical Magazine volume XV pp426-27; this time the reviewer was anonymous. Whoever it was, was critical, particularly of Percy Bullock’s translation, saying that it lacked any deep understanding of Stoicism.
- The Unknown World covering Alchemy, Magic, Divination, Rosicrucianism, Witchcraft, Astrology, Mysticism. Edited by A E Waite. Volume 1 number 6 issue of 15 January 1895 and the last one ever published: p283. This review, definitely by Waite, was equally critical of the translation of Somnium Scipionis; and also questioned the choice of the Golden Verses, describing them as “commonplaces of morality” and saying that the notes provided were neither illuminating nor profound. In its issue of 15 August 1894 The Unknown World had published a more favourable eview of the CH series so far, by Resurgam – a writing name used by GD member Edward Berridge.
1895
CH Volume 6; 54 pages. The Chaldaean Oracles of Zoroaster. Edited and revised by Westcott as Sapere Aude and with an introduction by Levavi Oculos, the GD motto of Percy Bullock.
You can see the Oracles volume online at //issuu.com.
1896
CH Volume 7; 120 pages. Euphrates, or, The Waters of the East by Eugenius Philalethes, the writing name of Thomas Vaughan. With a commentary by ‘SSDD’ the short-form of the GD motto of Florence Farr. Westcott was the editor. He also wrote a preface in which he descibed Vaughan as a “Rosicrucian adept”.
You can this online at //issuu.com.
1896 but not part of the Collectanea Hermetica project:
The Magical Ritual of the Sanctum Regnum Interpreted by the Tarot Trumps. By Eliphas Lévi, translated from the French by Westcott. Published London.
In 1897, someone informed Westcott’s employers at the London County Council of his involvement with the GD. As a result he felt obliged to curtail the work he did for the Order, including producing the CH volumes and – alas for subsequent historians! - keeping its administrative records. In the Preface to CH volume 7 Westcott had announced that the next volume would be published shortly: a reissue of Thomas Vaughan’s Lumen de Lumine. That didn’t happen and only one more volume of CH was published.
1898
CH Volume 8; 88 pages. Egyptian Magic by ‘SSDD’ the short-form of the GD motto of Florence Farr. This was a real departure for the series: the first, and it turned out the only, completely new work. His only input to this volume was guiding it through the publication process.
This volume is online at //issuu.com and archive.org.
It was reviewed by G R S Mead in Lucifer: A Theosophical Magazine volume XIX issue of 15 January 1897 pp432-434. Mead criticised the lack of notes or explanation in the volume, and the lack of textual scholarship; he also described it as rather behind the scholarly times. However, he did end the review by saying that any attempt to get to grips with Egyptian magic was to be welcomed.
1902
CH volume 9, the last in the set; 120 pages. Not a new work, just the 2nd edition of Westcott’s Numbers: Their Occult Power and Mystic Virtues, first published in 1890.
Ordinances of the Societas Rosicruciana in Anglia. Compiled by WWW. Published London.
Then there was a gap of many years before Westcott published his last work as compiler of occult data:
1916
Data of the History of the Rosicrucians. Published London: John Watkins. Westcott as compiler and arranger of the data.
LIST FOUR: AS CONTRIBUTOR TO WORKS WHERE SOMEONE ELSE WAS THE MAJOR AUTHOR. As with the ‘reviews’ list, this is short.
1903-12
A Catalogue Raisonné or Works on the Occult Sciences. These various catalogues were essentially lists of works owned by GD member Frederick Leigh Gardner. Westcott contributed the Introduction, a short history of astrology. Privately printed in London.
Volume 2, the list issued in 1911, was reviewed – mostly favourably - by “LJD”, a Miss Dickinson, in The Co-Mason volume III issue of July 1911 p133. Printed by Wadsworth and Co and the Rydal Press Keighley, for (its editor) Aimée (actually Jane Amy) Bothwell Gosse of 13 Blomfield Road Paddington.
Copyright SALLY DAVIS
22 October 2021
Email me at:
Find the web pages of Roger Wright and Sally Davis, including my list of people initiated into the Order of the Golden Dawn between 1888 and 1901, at:
www.wrightanddavis.co.uk
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