1903 First Edition / Later Nichols Leatherette Issue
THE BIRTHDAY BOOK OF DESTINY
By Sepharial [Walter Gorn Old]
KEY DETAILS
Condition: Good
Format: Hardcover, duodecimo or twelvemo (12mo 5 × 7 3⁄8 in 127 × 187 mm )
Note: Binding/size selection follows standard bibliographic conventions and is approximate; exact measurements may vary.
Published By: Nichols & Co., 34 Hart Street, W.C., undated [first published 1903; often catalogued 1904], London, 1903
Language: English
Provenance: The title page bears a faint but clearly legible oval stamp: J. WOODERSON, Bookseller, 23, Oxford St., W.
Collation: pp. xvi, 253, [1], with bound-in errata slip. Complete.
Dust Jacket: None, as issued
SKU: BTETM0002276
Shipping Info: Approximate Package Dimensions H: 12.5, L: 30, W: 25 (Units: cm), W: 2Kg
Tracked Shipping, Insurance Coverage as per Customer Request
DESCRIPTION
The Birthday Book of Destiny
Compiled from Ancient Hermetic and Rosicrucian Sources, Arranged and Interpreted
A scarce early work by Sepharial, the pseudonym of the English astrologer and occult writer Walter Gorn Old, presenting a complete calendar of astrological character and destiny readings arranged according to birthday.
The title page is undated and gives the imprint Nichols & Co., 34 Hart Street, W.C., London. Although library and modern bibliographical records frequently assign the book to 1904, contemporary evidence establishes that it was already published and being reviewed by September 1903. Light reviewed the work on 26 September 1903, while the October 1903 issue of The Horoscope described it as a newly available Nichols publication.
There is an interesting issue-point concerning the binding. The October 1903 review describes the book as bound in green cloth with gilt edges and printed in purple ink. By 1907, however, Nichols was advertising The Birthday Book of Destiny in “Leatherette gilt”, which corresponds much more closely with the present copy's burgundy/maroon pebble-grained binding.
The present example therefore appears to represent a later publisher's binding issue of the first, undated Nichols edition, probably issued from the original sheets during the title's continuing period of sale. The text itself shows no indication of a revised or separately numbered edition.
The book is particularly distinctive for being printed throughout in purple ink, including the title, preliminaries, calendar and individual birthday interpretations. The original bound-in errata slip also survives.
Modern records commonly give 253 pages, including Google Books and a specialist Sepharial bibliography. In this copy, however, the final printed textual page is clearly numbered 252, contains the entry for December 31 and concludes with “THE END”; the surviving errata slip likewise gives its final correction as being to p.252. This physical evidence has therefore been followed in the present description.
An attractive and increasingly difficult-to-find early Sepharial title, crossing the collecting fields of astrology, Hermeticism, Rosicrucianism, divination and Edwardian occult publishing.
PROVENANCE
The title page bears a faint but clearly legible oval stamp: J. WOODERSON, Bookseller, 23, Oxford St., W.
Wooderson was active at 23 Oxford Street in the contemporary London occult book trade; period notices from 1907 record J. Wooderson, 23 Oxford Street, W. supplying works on mysticism and related esoteric subjects.
The stamp is particularly appropriate on a Sepharial title and provides an appealing period association with London's early twentieth-century occult bookselling trade.
Two earlier manuscript ownership names are also present on a preliminary blank, apparently reading “A. Howling” in pencil and “B. M. Aylett” in ink. No firm identification of either former owner has presently been established.
CONDITION, COLLATION & COPY NOTES
COLLATION
pp. xvi, 253, [1], with bound-in errata slip. Complete.
Preliminaries extend to xvi. Main birthday calendar complete through December 31 on p.252, which concludes with “THE END”. Original printed ERRATA slip survives bound in at the rear and lists corrections to pp.58, 62, 98 and 252.
Some secondary bibliographical records give the extent as 253 pages; the present copy has been described according to the physical book, whose text demonstrably concludes on numbered p.252.
A complete and unrestored copy with honest age-related wear, retaining the particularly desirable original errata slip and period occult-bookseller provenance.
Original burgundy/maroon pebble-grained publisher's leatherette binding with gilt lettering and decoration to the upper board and gilt title to spine. Front-board gilt remains clear and attractive. Spine faded and rubbed with weakening of the gilt lettering; rubbing and wear to joints, edges and corners consistent with age and use.
Dark endpapers present. Inner gutters show wear but the boards remain attached and the text block is holding. No restoration noted.
Scattered foxing and age-toning, particularly to preliminary and terminal leaves, with occasional lighter spotting internally. Earlier ownership inscriptions to preliminary blank and J. Wooderson bookseller's stamp to title page.
Printed throughout in purple ink.
Please see Photos as part of condition report.
REFERENCES
Light: A Journal of Psychical, Occult, and Mystical Research, 26 September 1903 — contemporary review establishing publication by September 1903.
The Horoscope: A Quarterly Review of Astrology and Occult Science, October 1903 — contemporary review describing the title as issued in green cloth with gilt edges and printed in purple ink.
Nichols & Co. advertisement in The Forecast, 1907 — advertises The Birthday Book of Destiny as leatherette gilt, providing evidence for the later publisher's binding issue represented by this copy.
Google Books — Nichols & Company, 1904; 253 pages, reflecting the conventional library dating of the undated edition.
Astrolearn, specialist Sepharial bibliography — records the Nichols edition as undated, discusses the differing 1903/1904 dating, and describes it as one of Sepharial's scarcer works.
SYNOPSIS
The Birthday Book of Destiny is Sepharial's occult interpretation of the traditional birthday book, providing an individual symbolic and character reading for each day of the year.
Drawing upon what Sepharial describes as ancient Hermetic and Rosicrucian sources, the work associates each birthday with a symbolic image and then interprets that image in terms of character, abilities, temperament, opportunities, weaknesses and probable direction in life.
Sepharial proposes an astronomical basis for the system. The symbols are related to sidereal influences associated with degrees of the celestial or equatorial circle when referred to the Zodiac, transforming the familiar birthday-book format into a compact system of astrological divination.
Each dated entry combines a symbolic heading with a concise personality and destiny reading. The result occupies an intriguing position between practical astrology, symbolic divination and popular fortune-telling, while reflecting the intense revival of interest in astrology, Hermetic philosophy and Rosicrucian traditions in Britain around the turn of the twentieth century.
The volume also demonstrates how occult material was being adapted for a wider Edwardian audience: sophisticated astrological and Hermetic concepts are presented in an accessible format in which a reader could immediately locate their own birthday—or those of friends and family—and discover the corresponding symbol and interpretation.
AUTHOR BIO
Sepharial — Walter Gorn Old (1864–1929)
Walter Gorn Old, better known by his occult pseudonym Sepharial, was an English astrologer, occultist and prolific author whose writings became influential during the late Victorian and Edwardian revival of astrology.
Writing principally under the name Sepharial, he produced works dealing with astrology, predictive techniques, numerology, divination and other branches of Western esotericism. His ability to present complicated occult systems in comparatively accessible form helped introduce astrological and related ideas to a considerably broader readership.
The Birthday Book of Destiny is among his more unusual works, combining his astrological interests with Hermetic and Rosicrucian symbolism in the popular form of a perpetual birthday book.
1903 First Edition / Later Nichols Leatherette Issue
THE BIRTHDAY BOOK OF DESTINY
By Sepharial [Walter Gorn Old]
KEY DETAILS
Condition: Good
Format: Hardcover, duodecimo or twelvemo (12mo 5 × 7 3⁄8 in 127 × 187 mm )
Note: Binding/size selection follows standard bibliographic conventions and is approximate; exact measurements may vary.
Published By: Nichols & Co., 34 Hart Street, W.C., undated [first published 1903; often catalogued 1904], London, 1903
Language: English
Provenance: The title page bears a faint but clearly legible oval stamp: J. WOODERSON, Bookseller, 23, Oxford St., W.
Collation: pp. xvi, 253, [1], with bound-in errata slip. Complete.
Dust Jacket: None, as issued
SKU: BTETM0002276
Shipping Info: Approximate Package Dimensions H: 12.5, L: 30, W: 25 (Units: cm), W: 2Kg
Tracked Shipping, Insurance Coverage as per Customer Request
DESCRIPTION
The Birthday Book of Destiny
Compiled from Ancient Hermetic and Rosicrucian Sources, Arranged and Interpreted
A scarce early work by Sepharial, the pseudonym of the English astrologer and occult writer Walter Gorn Old, presenting a complete calendar of astrological character and destiny readings arranged according to birthday.
The title page is undated and gives the imprint Nichols & Co., 34 Hart Street, W.C., London. Although library and modern bibliographical records frequently assign the book to 1904, contemporary evidence establishes that it was already published and being reviewed by September 1903. Light reviewed the work on 26 September 1903, while the October 1903 issue of The Horoscope described it as a newly available Nichols publication.
There is an interesting issue-point concerning the binding. The October 1903 review describes the book as bound in green cloth with gilt edges and printed in purple ink. By 1907, however, Nichols was advertising The Birthday Book of Destiny in “Leatherette gilt”, which corresponds much more closely with the present copy's burgundy/maroon pebble-grained binding.
The present example therefore appears to represent a later publisher's binding issue of the first, undated Nichols edition, probably issued from the original sheets during the title's continuing period of sale. The text itself shows no indication of a revised or separately numbered edition.
The book is particularly distinctive for being printed throughout in purple ink, including the title, preliminaries, calendar and individual birthday interpretations. The original bound-in errata slip also survives.
Modern records commonly give 253 pages, including Google Books and a specialist Sepharial bibliography. In this copy, however, the final printed textual page is clearly numbered 252, contains the entry for December 31 and concludes with “THE END”; the surviving errata slip likewise gives its final correction as being to p.252. This physical evidence has therefore been followed in the present description.
An attractive and increasingly difficult-to-find early Sepharial title, crossing the collecting fields of astrology, Hermeticism, Rosicrucianism, divination and Edwardian occult publishing.
PROVENANCE
The title page bears a faint but clearly legible oval stamp: J. WOODERSON, Bookseller, 23, Oxford St., W.
Wooderson was active at 23 Oxford Street in the contemporary London occult book trade; period notices from 1907 record J. Wooderson, 23 Oxford Street, W. supplying works on mysticism and related esoteric subjects.
The stamp is particularly appropriate on a Sepharial title and provides an appealing period association with London's early twentieth-century occult bookselling trade.
Two earlier manuscript ownership names are also present on a preliminary blank, apparently reading “A. Howling” in pencil and “B. M. Aylett” in ink. No firm identification of either former owner has presently been established.
CONDITION, COLLATION & COPY NOTES
COLLATION
pp. xvi, 253, [1], with bound-in errata slip. Complete.
Preliminaries extend to xvi. Main birthday calendar complete through December 31 on p.252, which concludes with “THE END”. Original printed ERRATA slip survives bound in at the rear and lists corrections to pp.58, 62, 98 and 252.
Some secondary bibliographical records give the extent as 253 pages; the present copy has been described according to the physical book, whose text demonstrably concludes on numbered p.252.
A complete and unrestored copy with honest age-related wear, retaining the particularly desirable original errata slip and period occult-bookseller provenance.
Original burgundy/maroon pebble-grained publisher's leatherette binding with gilt lettering and decoration to the upper board and gilt title to spine. Front-board gilt remains clear and attractive. Spine faded and rubbed with weakening of the gilt lettering; rubbing and wear to joints, edges and corners consistent with age and use.
Dark endpapers present. Inner gutters show wear but the boards remain attached and the text block is holding. No restoration noted.
Scattered foxing and age-toning, particularly to preliminary and terminal leaves, with occasional lighter spotting internally. Earlier ownership inscriptions to preliminary blank and J. Wooderson bookseller's stamp to title page.
Printed throughout in purple ink.
Please see Photos as part of condition report.
REFERENCES
Light: A Journal of Psychical, Occult, and Mystical Research, 26 September 1903 — contemporary review establishing publication by September 1903.
The Horoscope: A Quarterly Review of Astrology and Occult Science, October 1903 — contemporary review describing the title as issued in green cloth with gilt edges and printed in purple ink.
Nichols & Co. advertisement in The Forecast, 1907 — advertises The Birthday Book of Destiny as leatherette gilt, providing evidence for the later publisher's binding issue represented by this copy.
Google Books — Nichols & Company, 1904; 253 pages, reflecting the conventional library dating of the undated edition.
Astrolearn, specialist Sepharial bibliography — records the Nichols edition as undated, discusses the differing 1903/1904 dating, and describes it as one of Sepharial's scarcer works.
SYNOPSIS
The Birthday Book of Destiny is Sepharial's occult interpretation of the traditional birthday book, providing an individual symbolic and character reading for each day of the year.
Drawing upon what Sepharial describes as ancient Hermetic and Rosicrucian sources, the work associates each birthday with a symbolic image and then interprets that image in terms of character, abilities, temperament, opportunities, weaknesses and probable direction in life.
Sepharial proposes an astronomical basis for the system. The symbols are related to sidereal influences associated with degrees of the celestial or equatorial circle when referred to the Zodiac, transforming the familiar birthday-book format into a compact system of astrological divination.
Each dated entry combines a symbolic heading with a concise personality and destiny reading. The result occupies an intriguing position between practical astrology, symbolic divination and popular fortune-telling, while reflecting the intense revival of interest in astrology, Hermetic philosophy and Rosicrucian traditions in Britain around the turn of the twentieth century.
The volume also demonstrates how occult material was being adapted for a wider Edwardian audience: sophisticated astrological and Hermetic concepts are presented in an accessible format in which a reader could immediately locate their own birthday—or those of friends and family—and discover the corresponding symbol and interpretation.
AUTHOR BIO
Sepharial — Walter Gorn Old (1864–1929)
Walter Gorn Old, better known by his occult pseudonym Sepharial, was an English astrologer, occultist and prolific author whose writings became influential during the late Victorian and Edwardian revival of astrology.
Writing principally under the name Sepharial, he produced works dealing with astrology, predictive techniques, numerology, divination and other branches of Western esotericism. His ability to present complicated occult systems in comparatively accessible form helped introduce astrological and related ideas to a considerably broader readership.
The Birthday Book of Destiny is among his more unusual works, combining his astrological interests with Hermetic and Rosicrucian symbolism in the popular form of a perpetual birthday book.
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