A History of Fire and Flame
London: The Poetry Lovers' Fellowship, 1932. First Edition. Octavo, xxiv, 440, [1] pages, publisher's original pictorial yellow dust jacket. Publisher's original gilt-lettered blue cloth covered boards. Illustrated throughout in black-and-white. With the bookplate of the Guild of Saint John of Beverley for the Deaf, Deaf-Blind, and Hard of Hearing to the front pastedown. First edition of Oliver C. de C. Ellis’s wide-ranging historical and symbolic study of fire and flame, examining their roles in religion, mythology, folklore, ritual, science, warfare, industry, and domestic life. The work traces humanity’s changing understanding of fire from ancient worship and sacrificial practice through alchemy, Hermetic symbolism, magic, cremation, beacon fires, fireworks, incendiary weapons, and modern technological uses. Richly illustrated and drawing upon classical, medieval, and early modern sources, the book is particularly notable for its treatment of fire as both a physical force and a spiritual emblem of purification, transformation, destruction, and renewal. An unusual and scholarly volume with strong appeal to collectors of alchemy, occultism, comparative religion, mythology, folklore, symbolism, and the history of science. Scarce dust jacket with several large losses and internal repairs, now protected in Mylar. Minor rubbing and a small hole affecting the first few leaves, else in very good condition. Item #446
Price: $500.00