Compendium Rarissum totius Artis Magicae A Most Rare Compendium of the Whole Magical Art (Touch Me Not).

Edited and Translated by Hereward Tilton and Merlin Cox.  Lopen, Somerset, England: Fulgur Press, 2001. Limited Edition of 66 Hand Numbered Copies of which this is No. 23. Deluxe Full Black Leather Binding with red titling to spine and front cover decorated with red embossed sigil. Endpapers decorated with Astro-Palmistry Diagram. Red Ribbon Bookmark All page edges dyed red. 9¾" x 12¾". Custom Black Buckram Slipcase. 10" x 13⅜". 158pp. Introduction & Notes pp1-23. Facsimile of Manuscript pp24-130. Text and Translation pp131-155. Notes to Translation pp156-157. Bibliography of Sources p.158.   

[“Touch Me Not is an Austrian manuscript compendium of the black magical arts, completed c.1795. Unique and otherworldly, it evokes a realm of visceral dark magic. As the co-editor Hereward Tilton notes, the manuscript ‘appears at first sight to be a ‘grimoire’ or magician’s manual intended for noviciates of black magic. Psychedelic drug use, animal sacrifice, sigillary body art, masturbation fantasy and the necromantic manipulation of gallows-corpses count among the transgressive procedures it depicts. With their aid hidden treasures are wrested from guardian spirits, and the black magician’s highest ambition – an infernal transfiguration and union with the Devil – can be fulfilled.’Hidden for decades within the Wellcome Library collection, Touch Me Not is published here as a full colour facsimile for the first time. We have commissioned a translation of the German and Latin texts from Hereward Tilton and Merlin Cox, scholars who have explored the sources for the various elements and provided copious references. There is also an introduction from Hereward that lays out the context for this extraordinary survival.” – copyright Fulgur]

A Scarce Edition in Fine Condition