‘Hieroglyphical Key’

     
An unsolicited commercial endorsement—hey, I just like the company:

Ouroboros Press has announced its publication of Nicholas Flamel’s Hieroglyphical Key: Being an Explication of Alchemical Figures, Together with His Summary of Philosophy and His Testament.

As always, gorgeous bindings, endsheets, etc. A miracle anyone does that kind of work anymore. From the publicity:

When SOL, the emblem of the Royal Arte, moves into the Sign of the Ram it is considered the perfect time to begin the Alchemical Opus. This is the season when the cold crust of winter is broken through by the budding seeds buried deep in the earth. The energy of life expresses itself with fresh and robust growth offering a new beginning of Nature’s cycle. Ouroboros Press takes this opportunity to release a classic text by Nicholas Flamel, one of the alchemists purported to have succeeded in making the Philosopher’s Stone.

Nicholas Flamel’s Hieroglyphical Key is offered with two additional texts: Summary of Philosophy and his Testament. The quality of the emblematic engravings in the Ouroboros Press edition are exquisite and are reproduced in crisp offset printing. As with other trade editions produced by us, the Key is wrapped in a letterpress dust jacket. A few very special Cambridge style bindings are being bound up by Michael Atha of Restoration Books, and full leather scarlet bindings will be available from Ars Obscura.

The press has always been an advocate of the alchemical art and several of our publications reflect this. Celebrate the Spring by adding these classic texts of Hermeticism to your library or laboratory.

Courtesy Ouroboros Press

There are three editions from which to choose:

Brazen Serpent – Full leather hand bound in a Cambridge style binding with hand marbled endsheets. Includes a folding plate of the Hieroglyphical Figures.
Limited to 26 copies only. $345

Libri Rubaeus Edition – Full scarlet leather with raised spine bands gilt title and ornamental device. Handmarbled endsheets and silk ribbon bookmark.
Limited to 72 copies only. $175

Trade Edition – Full cloth with gilt title and Rose Cross device. Letterpress printed dust jacket.
Limited to 679 copies only. $40
     

‘The Book of the Words & Esoterika’

    

If you need a gift idea for the Scottish Rite Freemason who has everything, might I suggest a gorgeous edition of indispensable AASR literature, bound by hand in leather, only recently published by Restoration Books? Choose either Esoterika or Sephir H’debarim (The Book of the Words), priced at $375 per volume. Of course there’s nothing stopping you from buying both, for a total of $750. Fully insured shipping and handling are included in the price.

Esoterika and The Book of the Words both were authored by Albert Pike. The former is his interpretation of the ritual and symbols of the three Craft degrees (with some humorous commentary on traditional Anglo interpretation of the degrees, and on the state of Masonic education in the 1880s). Restoration Book’s new printing is a recreation of the original production of the single volume of Esoterika that Pike had published and archived at the Mother Supreme Council. This title was resuscitated by Ill. Arturo de Hoyos, who edited and had it published for members of the Scottish Rite Research Society about five years ago. This title, in a more “normal” hardcover printing, is available at the A&ASR’s bookstore for a modest sum.

The Book of the Words is a dizzying historical and etymological exploration of esoteric words of Scottish Rite Masonry. No surprise that Pike, as he did in Morals and Dogma, pioneers what we today term comparative religious study, and of course there is plenty of ancient religion examined along the way. (Words of caution about Pike’s work in this field: His efforts were limited, naturally, to what was known during his lifetime. Archeology and Egyptology, to name two sciences we take for granted today, were – at best – in embryonic stages. In addition, Hebrew is a language of heavy nuance. What can you expect from the absence of vowels? Always be skeptical of those, Jewish or not, who have not studied the language for a lifetime when they translate and interpret Hebrew, because can get it wrong, especially those with a “believing is seeing” disposition. (When the Magpie Mason took the degree of Anointed High Priest four years ago, he was stunned and appalled that the ritualists could not frame to pronounce the Word of the degree. They’re all fine Masons, but Hebrew is not a Western language that, like Latin, is fairly easily rendered into modern English. Hebrew can be obstructive and crafty, especially in esoteric religious contexts that require structured lifetime study of Torah and Talmud as prerequisites. I’m sure Pike did his best, but some things may have been beyond his abilities or simply out of his hands, so I personally choose to take him with a grain of salt.)

The Book of the Words first was published in 1878 in a run of 100 copies. In 1999, the SRRS reprinted it with additional material and an introduction by Ill. De Hoyos.

Restoration Books says:

Each copy is bound in full navy blue Morocco goatskin with traditional hand-marbled endpapers and a silk ribbon marker. The binding design was painstakingly reproduced from a photograph of the original copy of Esoterika held by the House of the Temple archives, the only variation from the original being the signature of Albert Pike, tooled in gold, on the front cover. All gold tooling and top edge gilding is executed by hand. The Book of the Words will be bound in identical blue Morocco leather in matching style, with the only difference in design being the titling to the spine.

Bro. Arturo De Hoyos has generously offered to sign each copy and include the official foil stamps of the Supreme Council and/or the Scottish Rite Research Society along with the Grand Historian/Archivist Stamps. Each copy of Esoterika and The Book of the Words will also have a beautiful facsimile replica of an official 19th century Supreme Council bookplate tipped into the front of the book, along with a personalized “Ex-Libris” plate with the owner’s name placed below the Supreme Council bookplate.

These hand-bound leather editions of Pike’s Esoterika and The Book of the Words are strictly limited to one hundred signed and hand-numbered sets. These stunning books are sure to become highly collectible heirlooms worthy of being handed down for generations to come. For more information, please visit our project blog.

Restoration Books Bindery & Fine Press unveiled these masterpieces this weekend at the Masonic Restoration Foundation’s first conference, held in Colorado.

All photographs courtesy of Restoration Books Bindery & Fine Press.