The Lesser Key of Solomon

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This trade paperback edition features Aleister Crowley and S.L. MacGregor Mathers' work, fully illustrated with over 100 replicas from the 1904 edition. The text, known as a grimoire, compiles ancient materials and writings, tracing back to the mid-16th to 17th centuries, when occultists like Cornelius Agrippa and Johannes Trithemisus gathered insights from their research. As a modern grimoire, it has undergone various editions, with different authors and editors interpreting the ancient texts. In 1898, Arthur Edward Waite included significant portions of this work in his own publication, followed by Mathers and Crowley in 1904 with their edition. Numerous versions have emerged since, emphasizing that it is the content rather than the book itself that defines this work. The source material is traditionally divided into five books: Ars Goetia, Ars Theurgia Goetia, Ars Paulina, Ars Almadel, and Ars Notoria, with Mathers and Crowley's edition focusing on the first. The preface notes that a "Secret Chief" of the Rosicrucian Order guided the completion of the book, originally started by G. H. Fra. D.D.C.F., who translated texts from French, Hebrew, and Latin but could not finish due to external challenges. Crowley was then asked to complete the work, with Mathers credited as the translator and Crowley as the editor.