A desirable copy of the second (and best) edition of this landmark collection of the supernatural, the occult, and the inexplicable. First published in 1696, just a year before the author’s death, the Miscellanies was the only work John Aubrey (1626–1697) saw through the press. A Fellow of the Royal Society and a close friend of Thomas Hobbes, Aubrey applied the empirical curiosity of the Scientific Revolution to the world of ghosts, spirits, and magic.
This 1784 "New Edition" is particularly sought after because it includes the first biography of Aubrey ("Some Account of his Life") and retains the famous engraved plate depicting the apparatus for "Visions in a Beril" (Crystal Gazing). As seen in the frontispiece, this plate illustrates a consecrated crystal or mirror set upon a pedestal, surrounded by the names of the four archangels: Michael, Gabriel, Raphael, and Uriel. This remains one of the most iconic images of ceremonial scrying in 17th-century literature.
The text itself is a treasure trove of early modern strangeness, with chapters dedicated to:
- Day-Fatality: Lucky and unlucky days.
- Omens and Apparitions: First-hand accounts of hauntings.
- Corps-Candles in Wales: Spectral lights foretelling death.
- Transportation in the Air: Levitation and flight.
- Converse with Angels and Spirits: The ritual magic section.
Second-Sighted Men in Scotland: One of the earliest anthropological accounts of the Highland "Second Sight."
Very Good condition. The contemporary calf binding is sound but shows significant age, with surface scuffing and wear to the spine; the title label is chipped but legible. The text block is generally clean with broad margins, showing the expected offset from the frontispiece plate onto the title page (a common feature in this edition). A solid, honest copy of a foundational text in Western psychical research.
Aubrey, John. Miscellanies upon Various Subjects. A New Edition, with Considerable Improvements. To which is prefixed, Some Account of his Life. London: Printed for W. Ottridge, Strand; and E. Easton, at Salisbury, 1784. Format: 8vo (Octavo). Collation: x, [2], 292 pp. With engraved frontispiece plate. Binding: Contemporary full calf, spine with red morocco title label ("AUBREYS MISCELLANIES") and traces of volume number/secondary label; rubbed and scuffed, particularly at the spine ends and corners. Provenance: Ownership signature of "T. Hammond" in early ink to the top of the title page.
A desirable copy of the second (and best) edition of this landmark collection of the supernatural, the occult, and the inexplicable. First published in 1696, just a year before the author’s death, the Miscellanies was the only work John Aubrey (1626–1697) saw through the press. A Fellow of the Royal Society and a close friend of Thomas Hobbes, Aubrey applied the empirical curiosity of the Scientific Revolution to the world of ghosts, spirits, and magic.
This 1784 "New Edition" is particularly sought after because it includes the first biography of Aubrey ("Some Account of his Life") and retains the famous engraved plate depicting the apparatus for "Visions in a Beril" (Crystal Gazing). As seen in the frontispiece, this plate illustrates a consecrated crystal or mirror set upon a pedestal, surrounded by the names of the four archangels: Michael, Gabriel, Raphael, and Uriel. This remains one of the most iconic images of ceremonial scrying in 17th-century literature.
The text itself is a treasure trove of early modern strangeness, with chapters dedicated to:
- Day-Fatality: Lucky and unlucky days.
- Omens and Apparitions: First-hand accounts of hauntings.
- Corps-Candles in Wales: Spectral lights foretelling death.
- Transportation in the Air: Levitation and flight.
- Converse with Angels and Spirits: The ritual magic section.
Second-Sighted Men in Scotland: One of the earliest anthropological accounts of the Highland "Second Sight."
Very Good condition. The contemporary calf binding is sound but shows significant age, with surface scuffing and wear to the spine; the title label is chipped but legible. The text block is generally clean with broad margins, showing the expected offset from the frontispiece plate onto the title page (a common feature in this edition). A solid, honest copy of a foundational text in Western psychical research.
Aubrey, John. Miscellanies upon Various Subjects. A New Edition, with Considerable Improvements. To which is prefixed, Some Account of his Life. London: Printed for W. Ottridge, Strand; and E. Easton, at Salisbury, 1784. Format: 8vo (Octavo). Collation: x, [2], 292 pp. With engraved frontispiece plate. Binding: Contemporary full calf, spine with red morocco title label ("AUBREYS MISCELLANIES") and traces of volume number/secondary label; rubbed and scuffed, particularly at the spine ends and corners. Provenance: Ownership signature of "T. Hammond" in early ink to the top of the title page.
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