1810 Cunning Man Herbal

£450.00

Free postal worldwide using Royal Mail international tracked and barcoded business service:

A Cunning Man’s Herbal with astrological material

Category:

A Cunning Man’s Herbal 1810

hand coloured plates

with astrological material

An expanded edition of the English Herbal produced by the Lincolnshire Cunning Man Dr.John Parkins (1771-1830)

Provenance: Donation of a local family, collection of The John Parkins Society Grantham, Lincolnshire, United Kingdom. Once in the collection of Grantham based herbalist Dr Gilbert whose practice was in the property next to the John Parkins Society up to the 1960’s. Dr Gilbert operated from the main house and the connecting property (number 38) both of which had extensive cellar areas which were equipped as laboratories and used to prepare herbal remedies for mail order nationwide.

Dr.Gilberts former Practce on Swinegate, Grantham

 

Original sheepskin binding, hand coloured plates, numerous inclusions of astrological and almanac material relating to the cunning mans art, 400pp.

Printed by J&E Hodson, Cross St, Hatton Gardens

Published by Dr.John Parkins from his ‘Temple of Wisdom’, his home in the older part (‘Little Gonerby’) of Grantham town in the early 1800’s.

Parkins was known for the production and dissemination of herbals, alamanacs, astrological material and talismans. He was an early student of Ebenezer Sibley, staying with him at his house in London in the late 1790’s, and was in correspondence with Francis Barrett during the composition of his famous ‘The Magus’ of 1801. Dr John parkins own “process for scrying with angels in the crystal” is included in a letter to Francis Barrett and was likely used by him for his own experiements.

Parkins contribution to Barrett’s occult knowledge seems to have been the process of communicating with angels by use of  crystal ball, as letters between them attest.

Hand coloured plates contemporary with publication, all pages present, rubbed edges of binding, spine and label present with loose front board.