[Rarebooks] Fs: Oracle or Book of Fate, 1835

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Kirchenhoffer, H. The Oracle or Book of Fate, Formerly in the Possession of the Emperor Napoleon, and Now First Rendered Into English, from a German Translation, of an Ancient Egyptian Manuscript, Found in the Year 1801, by M. Sonnini, in One of the Royal Tombs, Near Mount Lybicus, in Upper Egypt. London: Printed for M. Arnold, 1835. 8vo, original cloth-backed blue printed boards. xxxi, [ii], [63], 11 pp. [In the 63-page section, each facing page is numbered the same.] The boards a little rubbed and stained, with a small gouge on the rear cover; the cloth spine with some slight erosion; the joints are split; internally a very good copy overall in a fragile binding. 

The text includes a history of the manuscript and an account of the various ancient oracles. The text of the Book of Fate is introduced by “The Writing of Balaspis, by Command of Hermes Trismegistus, Unto the Priests of the High Temple.” The Book of Fate itself is comprised of pages of answers, keyed to the folding table at the front. The last section is the Zodialogy, which discusses the “Science of Foretelling Events and Characters by the Signs of the Zodiac and the Planetary Systems.” 

First published in 1822, and reissued, as here, with the addition of the Zodialogy. The work in various printings is well-represented in institutions, but it appears to be rather uncommon on the market. 

$350 plus shipping 

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