H.E.R..E.S.' Antiquarian

Presents

A catalogue of extreamly rare books

related to the western magical tradition

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

Johannes Trithemius -

LIBRI POLYGRAPHIAE VI [Polygraphia]; De Septem Secundeis; Epistolae

Publisher: Lazarus Zetzner, Strasbourg
Publication Date: 1613

Text: Latin

Trithemius's Polygraphia, together with De Septem Secundeis and Epistolae, bound in one volume. Small 8mo (approx. 100 mm x 150 mm). Pp. 1-612, 1-90, folding table (with 2-inch tear, repaired with minor loss, and some spotting). Binding: contemporary vellum in the continental style, somewhat age-darkened, with title inked on spine. Polished red edges. Light waterstaining to some leaves and occasional foxing and spotting throughout. Otherwise a good tight copy of this classic text on Cryptography and Magic-Occultism.

'Johannes Trithemius (1462-1516) was perhaps the central figure in the evolution of the Western Esoteric Tradition.' (Adam McLean) He was an abbot at Spanheim (now Sponheim) in Germany and one of the leading intellectuals of his day. Written in 1508 and first published in 1518, the Polygraphia was the first printed book on cryptography and a significant contribution to magical alphabets. It contains the ingenious Ave Maria cipher and introduces, by means of the "tabula recta" (the folding table) in Book V, a basic form of polyalphabetic substitution.

Trithemius's influence on the history of cryptography was considerable. According to David Khan in "The Codebreakers", his was the first cryptographic system in which all the available cipher alphabets are exhausted before any are repeated: this idea of a progressive key is still used by modern cipher machines. Perhaps because of the secret occult nature of the subject-matter and his other, darker writings, such as De Septem Secundeis (Of the seven secondary intelligences), a description of the astrological influences on world history also included in this volume, Trithemius gained a reputation as one of the greatest occultists. This volume also contains some letters between Trithemius and contemporary scholars on occult and religious matters.

 

The Golden Dawn Cypher manuscript was written in the code of the Polygraphia and Agrippa (and perhaps also Paracelsus) was his student and friend in occult studies.

This book is desirable in any occult library and this edition is one of the better since in contains the magical work 'De Septem Secundeis'.

 

SOLD

Item: #M06 - Buy this book Contact us

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Take me back to the catalogue overview