The original Clavicula Salomonis

This is my latest acquisition and what can only be described as the pride of my collection.

 It is a 1909 ‘1st Edition’ Clavicula Salomonis.  This is the Kegan Paul edition, which was the first edition for public consumption. The actual first was a private printing by Mathers for friends and members of the Golden Dawn, but I’ve never seen that edition come up for sale, Although I’ve been informed that it has.

The first time I clapped eyes on this it was in the collection of a friend and I wanted to buy it of him as soon as I saw it (it was most certainly not for sale at the time!) The first opportunity did arise a few years ago when his laptop konked out and he needed money to buy a new one. Unfortunately for me I’d just forked out on a MacBook laptop myself, so funds were short.

However, fast forward a couple of years and the same thing happens. This time I was in a position to help. For reasons that would a take a while to go into I had a Sony laptop as well as a MacBook Pro. I was going to ebay the Sony but, for reasons unknown to me, I’d simply not got around to putting it up, which is odd as I’m a regular eBay trader. But the Sony simply sat there.

Maybe the Gods where smiling on me and saying “keep it” but, for whatever reason, I still had it. My friend needed a laptop for work, so I offered it in exchange for the book.

Now, I’m sure some out there would think I’m bonkers for offering a laptop for an old book, but those of us ‘in the know’ would know that this was a good deal, so we exchanged (along with an offer of technical support for the laptop - I do know a thing or two about getting a computer going, I’ve rebuilt this one, my PC, several times in the past, yeah I know A laptop, a PC and A MacBook! I’m a sucker for electronics- I’ve still got an old IBM laptop that’s a backup)

This edition has been recovered in quarter leather and cloth, they've done a good job!

Some foxing along the edge of the pages, but nothing too serious.

Note the images are on blue paper (My thumb nail has gone a funny colour??)

Completed the collections (of what's published so far)

Picked up Frederick Hockley's - Invocating by Magic Crystals and Mirrors completing my collection of the Teitan Press' publication of Frederick Hockley's manuscripts.  

So far Teitan have published 6 titles, these are.

A Complete Book of Magic Science (Teitan Press, 2008)
Occult Spells. A Nineteenth Century Grimoire (Teitan Press, 2009)
The Rosicrucian Seer (Revised edition, Teitan Press, 2009)
Invocating by Magic Crystals and Mirrors (Teitan Press, 2010)
Abraham the Jew on Magic Talismans (Teitan Press, 2011)
A Book of the Offices of Spirits (Teitan Press, 2011)

Actually it's really five because  'Rosicrucian Seer' is  a collection of letters and other documents relating to Hockley,  interesting stuff nevertheless. 
Interestingly perhaps the most important Hockley manuscript was not published by Teitan. 'The Clavis or Key to the Magic of Solomon'  was published by Joseph Peterson/Nicolas Hays Inc

Teitan Press' website listed several planned new titles in the coming months (or years) relating to Hockley, but the one I'm most looking forward to is Hockley's Rudd/Goetia manuscript 'Dr Rudd's Nine Hierarchies of Angels'
I've always been fascinated by Rudd's material. Speaking of that brings me to my other completed collection; that of 'Sourceworks of Ceremonial Magic Series' collection (again what's been printed so far) 'The Goetia of Thomas Rudd' is part of the collection.

The titles published so far are

SWCM 1 - The Practical Angel Magic of John Dee's Enochian Tables

SWCM 2 - The Keys to the Gateway of Magic
SWCM 3 - The Goetia of Dr Rudd

SWCM 4 - The Veritable Key of Solomon*

SWCM 5 - The Grimoire of St. Cyprian - Clavis Inferni
SWCM 6 - Sepher Raziel

SWCM 7 - Liber Lunae - Book of the Moon & Sepher ha-Levanah
SWCM 8 - The Magical Treatise of Solomon or Hygromanteia

* This one is a bit of mystery. The Golden Hoard Edition was initially only available as the the numbered leather bound edition with colour plate. The only 'standard' edition was published by Llewellyn, with black and white plates.
I first bought the Llewellyn edition then the Leather edition for the colour plates. Then the Golden Hoard standard edition was published complete with colour plates. There's also a 'super' limited leather edition with raised bands on the spine, Only seen that listed for silly money on eBay.

I must admit that I didn't buy either collection in the order they were released I bought SWCM 7 'Liber Lunae' to complete the collection this week (online order - now arrived) and Hockey's 'Invocating by Magic Crystals and Mirrors' today from good old Treadwells.
Unlike Teitan Press, there's no indication what the next title in the SWCM series will be on either Stephen Skinner's or the publisher Golden Hoard Press' websites. But given that Skinner has just completed the John Dee modernization project and published 'John Dee's Spiritual Diaries' I wouldn't blame him for taking a well earned break :)