Alchemical Dragons

In addition to vessels and other chymical equipment found in early alchemical manuscripts, one may also find many animals depicted. Among the creatures we find in such alchemical bestiaries the Dragon is perhaps particularly intriguing due to its fantastical nature. This dragon takes many forms; that of a serpent without legs, sometimes winged, even biting its own tail as in the namesake of Ouroboros Press. [click on the images for a larger view].

Sloane 1171, 2nd half of the 16th century

Sloane 1171 in the British Library has very lively illustrations of dragons, one in particular takes on a  shape familiar to that which appears in the Ripley Scrolls. This twisted neck design perhaps influenced these other two-headed dragons to follow  in the images below.

While doing research related to my work on the Theatrum Chemicum Britannicum, I noticed that dragons were a theme which arose several times in the engravings accompanying the text. Indeed  there are no less than 5 dragons in Elias Ashmole's important collection of English alchemical texts. 

Harley 2407 in the British Library shows some of these dragons in manuscript illustrations later copied by Robert Vaughan for use in Theatrum Chemicum Britannicum.

Harley 2407, second half of the 15th century

Vaughan. Theatrum Chemicum Britannicum 1652

 

Harley 2407, second half of the 15th century

Vaughan. Theatrum Chemicum Britannicum 1652

Originally these manuscripts were collected by Elias Ashmole who sought to preserve the alchemical lore therein by publishing the material in the Theatrum Chemicum Britannicum. In doing this he did a great service to posterity and as the engravings he commissioned by Robert Vaughan show, he did it elegantly. It is in this spirit that Ouroboros Press seeks to manifest its next publication which is a corrected edition of the Theatrum Chemicum Britannicum.  The new edition will feature two important improvements. The first of these improvements is that by utilizing the original errata information provided by Ashmole, we were able to correct the errors in the original edition according to his intentions. Second, and this is integral to effecting the first, the entire text will be typeset in a classic typeface which may easily be read by contemporary audiences.

The Serious Joke: Two Book Launches

Ouroboros Press is releasing the first English translation of Michael Maier's Jocus Severus. Rendered into English from the original Latin by Darius Klein, the work has also been illustrated and ornamented by Benjamin Vierling. Issued in three distinctive editions, the Jocus Severus features a folding plate titled Alchemical Aviary as a frontispiece. Along with the standard trade cloth edition, the book will also be available in finely bound leather and vellum editions, the latter being strictly limited in number.

Seriously? Two Book Launches? You Must be Joking?

Actually no, we're not joking this time! So before you give us up for the birds here are the details:

San Francisco Book Launch with 
Artist Benjamin Vierling

5 March 2011 8:00 pm

 Fields Bookstore

1419 Polk Street San Francisco, CA 94109 (415) 673-2027

Seattle Book Launch with 
Translator Darius Klein & 
Bookbinder Joel Radcliffe
12 March 2011  8:00 pm

Rodriguez Guerra Art Studio

80 South Washington Street

[betweent First Ave South & Western]

Seattle, Washington 98104

For those of you unable to attend who would like the purchase a copy of the book, we are still offering free shipping on orders which come in by March 15th. This includes foreign countries as well. Paypal funds may be sent to this address: ouroboros@bookarts.org

Please include a note stating which edition[s] you would like and give your full shipping address.

Born in Germany, Count Michael Maier served as the personal physician to the Bohemian Emperor Rudolph II, as well as pursued a career as an alchemist. He is well known due to his masterful emblem book; Atalanta Fugiens, which was a blend of alchemical, mythological and musical elements. But Maier wrote other alchemical books and Ouroboros Press is very pleased to be offering the first English translation of his veritable conference of the birds;  Jocus Severus. 

This alchemical text employs allegory in an entertaining dialogue between several species of birds who are determined to defame the Owl with wordy complaints. The Hawk acts as the Owl's defense while  the Phoenix acts as final judge and arbiter over this 'conference of birds.'

Rendered from the original Latin of 1617 by Darius Klein this edition features original lllustrative material by Artist Benjamin Vierling, including a folding plate depicting all the species of birds involved in the alchemical dialogue.

As is our tradition at Ouroboros Press, the entire text has been reset with an eye to detail not common in contemporary publishing, where one often encounters poor facsimile reproductions. 

The book is issued in three formats:

Imperial Vellum Edition. Hand bound with raised spine bands in full vellum with leather spine label, gilt title and device. Vellum headbands, marbled endsheets and a silk book marker complete this fine binding. [135 pages] aviary folding plate and illustrated with ornamental head and tail pieces.

Athenian Wisdom Edition: Strictly limited to 25 copies  $225.00

Deluxe Leather Edition. Hand bound with raised spine bands in full black goat and red leather spine label, with gilt title and device. leather headbands, marbled endsheets and a silk book marker. [135 pages] aviary folding plate and illustrated with ornamental head and tail pieces.

Noctis Black Owl Edition: $150.00

Trade Cloth Edition. Sewn in full cloth with stamped title and device. Letterpress printed dust jacket, [135 pages] aviary folding plate and illustrated with ornamental head and tail pieces.

Fine Press Trade Edition: $45.00

Layout for the Letterpress printed dust jacket intended for the Fine Press Trade Editions

Arcana V: Musicians on Music, Magic & Mysticism

New Anthology on Music, Magic & Mysticism 

Edited by John Zorn.

For centuries musicians have tapped into mysticism, magic and alchemy, embracing ritual, spell, incantation and prayer, and experimenting with esoteric approaches to harmony, pitch and vibration. In recent decades, avant-garde musicians have rediscovered these overlaps, as occultism has reinvented itself--through Buddhist and other Asian influences, Thelema and Chaos Magic--to accommodate cultural strains from psychedelica through Punk and Industrial music. 

This special edition of John Zorn's much acclaimed Arcana series focuses on the magical aspects of the act of making music. Neither historical overview nor musicological study, it illuminates the sympathies between music and the esoteric tradition with the help of today's finest experimental musicians and occultists. Among these are William Breeze, Gavin Bryars, Steve Coleman, Alvin Curran, Frank Denyer, Jeremy Folgel, Fred Frith, Sharon Gannon, Peter Garland, Milford Graves, Larkin Grimm, Tim Hodgkinson, Jerry Hunt, Eyvind Kang, Jessika Kenney, William Kiesel, Yusef Lateef, Frank London, Dary John Mizelle, Meredith Monk, Tisziji Munoz, Mark Nauseef, Pauline Oliveros, Genesis P-Orridge, Terry Riley, Adam Rudolph, Trey Spruance, David Toop, Greg Wall, Peter Lamborn Wilson and Z'ev.

Ouroboros Press publisher William Kiesel has an article in this integral book entitled 'Musings on the Hermetic Lyre'. Kiesel gave a recent interview on the Thelema Now podcast where he talks about the book.

Large Octavo. Sewn softcover volume.

459 pages with illustrations, 

notes and biographical information.
$40.00 postpaid [worldwide].

Ordering Instructions

Giordano Bruno ~ Incantations of Circe

There can be no doubt as to the importance Giordano Bruno's life and writings had on the western esoteric tradition and the history of scientific thought. With this in mind, Ouroboros Press is pleased to be issuing the first English translation of Giordano Bruno's Cantus Circaeus, rendered from the original Latin by Darius Klein. Originally printed in Paris 1582, the eloquence of Klein's English translation is fitting for the words of the Nolan.

"To one who is about to behold the Daughter of the Sun, she who is learned in magical lore, and who comes forth from the hidden places; you shall go as a free man into the House of Circe, not bound by the fetters of Night."

From Giordano Bruno; Cantus Circaeus.

In the beginning of his Cantus Circaeus, Bruno portrays the doctrine of correspondence as used with the seven planetary invocations, which are themselves tokens of praxis in the Hermetic tradition. The incantatory litanies include the names, attributes, plants, stones, animals and other qualities associated with the astral bodies, and are thus memory palaces of planetary arcana. Through dialogue, Circe and her assistant Moeris, explicate the use of images in the imagination in order to facilitate use of the Art of Memory which constitutes the latter half of the text. Francis A Yates, author of Giordano Bruno and the Hermetic Tradition comments;

"Bruno's magic memory system thus represents the memory of the Magus, one who both knows the reality beyond the multiplicity of appearances through having conformed his imagination to the archetypal images, and also has powers through this insight. It is the direct descendant of Ficino's Neoplatonic interpretation of the celestial images, but carried to a much more daring extreme."

Francis A. Yates; Giordano and the Hermetic Tradition.

[Bust of Giordano Bruno by Maurizio Tazzuti]

Cantus Circaeus: The Incantations of Circe
First English Translation.

Now Available

Read a Review of Cantus Circaeus on 
Peter Stockinger's
Traditional Astrology Website

Heretic Vellum Edition: Small octavo, handbound in full vellum over boards with raised cords and leather spine label. Gilt stamped title and device. Marbled endsheets and silk ribbon bookmark. 144 pages, illustrated with woodcuts. Limited to 300 copies only.

Heretic Vellum Edition: $225.00

Standard Edition: Small octavo, full black cloth over boards with gilt title and device. In a printed dust jacket. 144 pages. Illustrated with woodcuts.

Standard Edition: $40.00

Please include shipping with your order.
$6.00 in the US or $12.00 abroad for up to 2 books.

Please allow 2-3 weeks for delivery [handbound editions, allow 4-6 weeks].

Fine Esoteric Book Arts

Emerald Tablet of Hermes

Tabula Smaragdina Hermetis, perhaps better known as the the Emerald Tablet of Hermes, is the shortest and yet most refered to text in the whole of the alchemical corpus. Supposed to have been found engraved upon an Emerald, this hermetic document has been beautifully typeset in Centaur [a font designed by Bruce Rogers] and printed letterpress on fine Arches paperstock in two colors.

An alchemical emblem crowns the top of the broadside and features the enigmatic acrostic V.I.T.R.I.O.L., which was a substance used to pull metals out of hard stone by early metallurgists. The Latin translates as Visit the interior of the earth and through rectification you will find the hidden stone meant to point the way to the Philosopher's Stone.

Limited to 250 copies only this broadside is 13 x 18 inches and is suitable for framing. Let the words of Hermes Trismegistus adorn your library or laboratory. $25.00 postpaid, Ordering Instructions.

Picatrix Release Party

Picatrix Volume Two Ordering Information

The release party for Picatrix Volume Two was held at the Rodriguez Guerra Art Studio in Seattle's historic Pioneer Square district and was an enjoyable and successful affair.

Ouroboros Press publisher, William J. Kiesel gave a brief talk about the importance of the text in the Western Esoteric Tradition and provided anecdotes about historic figures who were influenced thereby.

The event was well attended by a wide variety of locals and many out-of-state guests.







William J. Kiesel and astrologer Austin Coppock a.k.a., Baron Samadhi Coppockalypse


Speacial thanks to Carlos Melgoza of Anima Nocturna for the photography.

Back from Europe

Pictured above are the smiling visages of Robert Ansell of
Fulgur Limited and William Kiesel of Ouroboros Press - London 2008.


Robert was kind enough to meet with us and talk about the esoteric publishing industry [small world that it is]. The latest title about to emerge from Fulgur is The Valley of Fear and there will be a book release party at Treadwells Bookshop in Convent Garden, London July 15. Treadwells is truly a wonderful shop and the proprietress Christina is a jewel of a person who not only wields ample knowledge about esoteric books but also is an excellent hostess. Despite the effects of jetlag and a technical snafu the night of the talk on Magic Circles, it went off well and was well attended by London's occult literati. Treadwells is certainly a destination in London, drop in and patronize them while there. Oh, I'd also like to mention that I found it intriguing that Nick Pelling, a Voynich Manuscript researcher, attended my talk in London. You can see his comments about the talk at Voynich News.

Meanwhile stops were made in Glastonbury [Labyrinth Books and Courthouse Books were quite friendly to us] as well as Amsterdam where the Conference Emblems, Magic and Hidden Knowledge was held at the University of Amsterdam. This was a full day of talks followed by a fascinating social night out on the city of canals. No trip to Amsterdam would be complete without a visit to the Bibliotheca Philosophica Hermetica, where we consulted several alchemical works. Ouroboros Press will be publishing a book as a result of the conference sometime in 2009. We will update you when details are solidified.



The Deluxe Leather edition of Turba Philosophorum, hand-bound by Ars Obscura Bookbinding. Full burgundy leather with gilt title and Ouroboros device to front and rear boards. French marbled endsheets and silk ribbon bookmark. The Crowd of Philosophers in style. $135.00 + shipping.

Theatrum Chemicum Britannicum

Corrected Edition: A Treasure House of English Alchemical Poetry

*UPDATE: More details about this project here!*

Does Elias Ashmole need an introduction? Being a Hermetic Philosopher and Antiquarian, Ashmole's literary eye recognized the richness of the royal art expressed in the poetry of English alchemists. His monumental Theatrum Chemicum Britannicum gathered together several of the finest examples of a flourishing alchemical tradition.

Ouroboros Press Corrected Edition

The original edition of Theatrum Chemicum Britannicum was produced in London 1652 by J. Grismond for Nathaniel Brooke. The task of printing such a large tome [nearly 500 pages] was tremendous and required many laboring hands to set the lead type, cut the engravings and print the pages. While printing houses often had numerous sets of typefaces, it was often necessary to redistribute the type in order to have enough of the face to print subsequent pages. Inevitably mistakes would be discovered before the rest of the book was actually printed. Thus it was common practice at the time for the foreman of the presses to keep a record of the errors so that these could be printed at the end of the book in an effort at correction. This 17th century example of the errata sheet survived and forms the basis of the present edition.

The Theatrum Chemicum Britannicum is an important collection of Alchemical material which encompasses many authors of the Hermetic Tradition and deserves to be in print to this day. A useful facsimile edition was to be had back in the 70s and it was better than the cheaply produced photocopies of the same available in recent times, yet both fail to make corrections to the original printer's typographical errors despite the errata clearly printed in the rear of the text. The Ouroboros Press edition of Theatrum Chemicum Britannicum is entirely reset in historical typefaces and features the Complete Corrected Text.

This is Fine Esoteric Bookarts at its best. An edition Elias Ashmole himself would be proud of; A Treasure House of English Alchemical Poetry!

Theatrum Chemicum Britannicum

Table of Contents

1. Prolegomena. Elias Ashmole.

2. Ordinal of Alchemie. Thomas Norton. [*6 illustrations].

3. Compound of Alchemie. George Ripley. [*folding plate: Ripley's Wheel].

4. Pater Sapientae. Anonymous.

5. In the Name of the Holy Triniti. [*2 illustrations].

6. Hermes's Bird. Anonymous. [*1 illustration].

7. Chanon's Yeoman's Tale. Geoffry Chaucer. [*illustration].

8. Dastin's Dreame. John Dastin.

9. Pearce the Black Monke upon the Elixir.

10. Richard Carpenter's Worke.

11. Hunting of the Greene Lyon. Abraham Andrews.

12. Breviary of Natrurall Philosophy. Thomas Charnock.

13. Aenigmaes. Thomas Charnock.

14. Bloomefields Blossoms. William Bloomefield.

15. Sir Edward Kelley's Worke.

16. Sir Edward Kelley to G. S. Gent.

17. Doctor John Dee's Testament.

18. Thomas Robinson of the Philosophers Stone.

19. Experience and Philosophy. Anonymous.

20. The Magistery. W. B.

21. Anonymi, or several Workes of unknowne Authors. [* 2 illustrations].

22. John Gower upon the Philosophers Stone.

23. George Ripley's Vision.

24. Verses belonging to Ripley's Scrowle. [*1 illustration].

25. Mystery of the Alchemists.

26. Preface to the Medulla. George Ripley.

27. A Short Worke. George Ripley.

28. Secreta Secretorum. John Lydgate.

29. Hermit's Tale. Anonymous.

30. Description of the Stone. Anonymous.

31. The Standing of the Glasse. &c. Anonymous.

32. Aenigma Philosophicum. W. Redman.

33. Fragments.

34. Annotations and Discourses. Elias Ashmole. [* astrological chart].

35. Table of Obscure & Obsolete Words.

 
Stout Octavo. Letterpress dust jacket. 500+ pages entirely reset in Williams Caslon Text. 
Engraved illustrations, woodcut ornaments, fleurons and folding plate. 


Festina Lente Alchemical Series
Release Date: 2011

Festina Lente Alchemical Series

PLEASE NOTE: This page is in the process of revision and will be updated with more details in the near term. Thank you for your interest.

The Ouroboros Press release of Turba Philosophorum marked the beginning of a series of alchemical texts, which will continue to flow from the scriptorium here in the Emerald City. The series editor William J. Kiesel has selected these texts from among the corpus of alchemical and hermetic books which were in need of translation or simply unavailable to the public in recent decades. Two of the texts are penned by Count Michael Maier, who is perhaps best known for his Emblematic book; Atalanta Fugiens, while two others are collections by various authors. We are especially pleased to be producing a new corrected edition of Elias Ashmole’s magnum opus; Theatrum Chemicum Brittanicum, the classic text on English Alchemical Poetry.


Festina Lente Alchemical Series

Altus
Mutus Liber - The Silent Book

Anonymous Texts
Turba Philosophorum
Aurifontina Chymica - Fourteen Treatises on the First Matter

Count Michael Maier
Jocus Severus - First English Translation by Darius Klein
Lusus Serius - With a critical introduction by Leigh Penman

Elias Ashmole
Theatrum Chemicum Britannicum
- Corrected & Rectified Edition: A Treasure House of English Alchemical Poetry

About the Publisher

William J. Kiesel is the publisher and editor of Ouroboros Press which has been operating since the turn of the current century. His long years in the antiquarian and esoteric book trade gave him access to rare books and manuscripts not generally available to the public. William has cultivated a lifelong care of books and has involved himself in every aspect of bookmaking, from bookbinding and typography to handset letterpress. Today he works with translators of Arabic, Latin, and German to provide rare texts to the English speaking world.

William Kiesel is a member of the European Society for the Study of Western Esotericism. ESSWE Website


In addition to his work as a publisher and editor, William gives presentations on Alchemy and the Western Esoteric Tradition. His practical experience and historical knowledge of occult literature and culture spans two decades and draws from such diverse areas as Hermeticism, Neoplatonism, Qabalah, Thelema, Alchemy, Rosicrucianism, Theosophy, Near Eastern Esotericism and Ceremonial Magic. Esoteric symbol systems in religion, mythology and folklore are among his objects of continual study in historical and contemporary contexts. He is a natural teacher and good orator with the distinct talent of making the enigmas of esoteric symbolism clear to the curious.

A few presentations given in recent history:

-The Royal Art: Introduction to Alchemical Symbolism
-Atalanta Fugiens: Alchemical Music in Renaissance Hermeticism
-Iconography in the Western Esoteric Tradition
-The Alchemical Bestiary: Animal Symbolism in Renaissance Hermeticism
-The Circle of Arte: Magic Circles in European Grimoires


Listen to an interview with William on the Occult of Personality website or read an interview with him on Reading Local Seattle. Emily Pothast wrote a few kind words on her blog Translinguistic Other as well.

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