Unlike some other reproductions of classic texts (1) We have not used OCR(Optical Character Recognition), as this leads to bad quality books with introduced typos. (2) In books where there are images such as portraits, maps, sketches etc We have endeavoured to keep the quality of these images, so they represent accurately the original artefact. Although occasionally there may be certain imperfections with these old texts, we feel they deserve to be made available for future generations to enjoy.

Unlike some other reproductions of classic texts (1) We have not used OCR(Optical Character Recognition), as this leads to bad quality books with introduced typos. (2) In books where there are images such as portraits, maps, sketches etc We have endeavoured to keep the quality of these images, so they represent accurately the original artefact. Although occasionally there may be certain imperfections with these old texts, we feel they deserve to be made available for future generations to enjoy.

Unlike some other reproductions of classic texts (1) We have not used OCR(Optical Character Recognition), as this leads to bad quality books with introduced typos. (2) In books where there are images such as portraits, maps, sketches etc We have endeavoured to keep the quality of these images, so they represent accurately the original artefact. Although occasionally there may be certain imperfections with these old texts, we feel they deserve to be made available for future generations to enjoy.

Many of the earliest books, particularly those dating back to the 1900s and before, are now extremely scarce and increasingly expensive. Hesperides Press are republishing these classic works in affordable, high quality, modern editions, using the original text and artwork.

Hargrave Jennings presents a fascinating look at and interpretation of the philosophy and nature of the Rosicrucian Order in this classic work. It is an indispensable work for any student of the Rosicrucians or the Mysteries Schools. "This book, which now leaves our hands, concentrates in a small compass the results of very considerable labour, and the diligent study of very many books in languages living and dead. It purports to be a history (for the first time treated seriously in English) of the famous Order of the 'Rose-Cross', or of the 'Rosicrucians'. No student of the occult philosophy need, however, fear that we shall not most carefully keep guard--standing sentry (so to speak) not only over this, which is, by far, the pre-eminent, but also over those other recondite systems which are connected with the illustrious Rosicrucians."

Collectanea Hermetica Volume I: Divine Pymander. This book was a part of curriculum studied by members of the original Order of the Golden Dawn. The Divine Pymander is not only one of the most important texts of the ancient wisdom attributed to Hermes Trismegistus, it is also the most important document within Hermetic communities. The volumes of Westcott's Collectanea Hermetica appeared over there three years from 1893 to 1896 when the Golden Dawn was at its peak. In every volume the intellectual integrity of the authors is evident, as is an eagerness to bring academic respectability to subjects derided by their contemporaries. This is the first corrected edition since it was originally published in 1894. The edition was Edited Darcy Kuntz. General Note to the Collectanea Hermetica Series by Robert A. Gilbert, Foreword by Chic and Sandra Tabatha Cicero and an Introduction by Hargrave Jennings. Also included are advertisements published in books and magazines from the 1890s.

Hargrave Jennings' 1870 work joins the debates of the nineteenth century that sought to determine the relationships between modern science, religion, and the supernatural. A prolific writer and an occultist, Jennings (1817 1890) had previously published on the religions of India. He spent two decades researching and writing this work, which is the first history in English of the Rosicrucians. As he states, his 1858 Curious Things of the Outside World first asserted the ideas he elaborates in this text, and he is not a member of the Rosicrucian sect, simply a historian of it. This was his best-known book, in which the discussion extends to the Kabbalah, Gnosticism, the Druids, and ancient and medieval cultures; five editions were subsequently printed, and it was translated into German in 1912. It will interest scholars of the history of ideas, of the relationship of science and magic, and of the occult.