Transmutation Publishing

01/23/2026

The Pass-Keys to Alchemy: The Lost Book of Lapidus by Lapidus (David Curwen), published in 2012. Limited edition. A remarkable modern alchemical text by one of the most enigmatic figures in twentieth-century alchemy, Lapidus, the nom de plume of British laboratory alchemist David Curwen, one of the very few known practitioners of operative alchemy in the United Kingdom during the latter half of the century. Long believed that In Pursuit of Gold was Curwen’s only alchemical work, this volume reveals a second, long-concealed manuscript that circulated privately for decades among a small circle of trusted adepts. According to the publisher, The Pass-Keys to Alchemy details a series of essential “pass-keys” to the successful confection of the Philosophers’ Stone, each chapter distilling insights drawn from a lifetime of practical laboratory experience. The work engages deeply with canonical alchemical authorities including Eirenæus Philalethes, Ali Puli, Paracelsus, Benedictus Figulus, Sir Edward Kelly, and Michael Maier’s Atalanta Fugiens, among others. Included are an introductory essay by Tony Matthews, grandson of Lapidus, and sixteen of Theodor de Bry’s engraved emblems from Atalanta Fugiens, each accompanied by Lapidus’s commentary. A rare and serious contribution to modern alchemical literature, presenting practical, theoretical, and symbolic material of exceptional depth. Hardcover with the original dust jacket, exhibiting only the very lightest shelfwear. www.transmutationpublishing.com

01/18/2026

01/18/2026

A Commentary on the Mutus Liber by Adam McLean, published in 1991. A detailed interpretive study of the Mutus Liber, the celebrated seventeenth-century alchemical picture book whose sequence of enigmatic engravings presents the alchemical process through image rather than text. McLean offers a careful symbolic and philosophical analysis of the plates, exploring their Hermetic, spiritual, and practical dimensions while situating the work within the broader tradition of emblematic alchemical literature. The commentary provides valuable guidance for understanding the visual language of alchemy and the inner processes of transformation it was intended to convey. Highly regarded among students and collectors of alchemical literature, this volume is an essential companion to the Mutus Liber itself. Hardcover with gilt lettering, near fine. Publisher’s prospectus laid in. www.transmutationpublishing.com

01/17/2026

Giordano Bruno and the Hermetic Tradition by Frances A. Yates, published in 1971. A landmark study that reshaped modern understanding of Renaissance philosophy, examining the life and thought of Giordano Bruno and his engagement with Hermetic, magical, and Neoplatonic traditions. Yates situates Bruno within the broader context of Renaissance Hermeticism, exploring how ancient esoteric texts, cosmology, and magical philosophy informed his radical vision of an infinite universe and the divine presence within nature. The work traces the transmission of Hermetic ideas from antiquity through the Renaissance and demonstrates their profound influence on Bruno’s metaphysics, memory systems, and cosmological speculation. Long regarded as a foundational text in Renaissance studies and the history of Western esotericism, this volume remains essential for scholars and collectors interested in Hermetic philosophy, intellectual history, and the intersections of magic, science, and religion. Hardcover, with the original dust jacket, showing light shelfwear to the corners and ends of the jacket. www.transmutationpublishing.com

01/15/2026

The Magus; or, Celestial Intelligencer by Francis Barrett, published in 1875 in London.

The book that launched modern Western magic. Barrett’s The Magus is the single most important grimoire ever printed in English, serving as the bridge between Renaissance Hermeticism and the modern occult revival. Drawing upon Agrippa, Trithemius, Paracelsus, and other early masters, it preserved a vast body of magical, astrological, cabalistic, and ceremonial knowledge at a moment when the original sources had become nearly unobtainable. From the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn to Aleister Crowley, nearly every twentieth-century magical tradition traces its lineage directly to this work.

Lavishly illustrated with engraved and hand-colored plates, including the celebrated folding chart of “The Cabala: The Tables for the Calculation of the Names of Spirits Good and Bad, under the Presidency of the Planets and Twelve Militant Signs.” Its seals, sigils, spirit hierarchies, magical alphabets, and celestial diagrams became the visual language of ritual magic for generations.
This copy is fully collated and beautifully bound in full hand-tooled calf, featuring an embossed Solomonic star drawn from the text itself, with marbled endpapers and raised spine hubs—an exceptional presentation of a legendary work.
A true cornerstone of occult history and one of the most desirable grimoires ever printed.

01/12/2026

Sadducismus Triumphatus: Or, A Full and Plain Evidence Concerning Witches and Apparitions by Joseph Glanvill. London, 1726. A landmark work in the intellectual history of the supernatural, Sadducismus Triumphatus stands as one of the most influential early modern attempts to defend the reality of witchcraft, spirits, and apparitions against the growing skepticism of the Enlightenment. www.transmutationpublishing.com

10/05/2025

Homeric Synchronism: an Enquiry Into the Time and Place of Homer by the Right Hon. W. E. Gladstone, published in 1876. The personal copy of Atlantean scholar Ignatius Donnelly with his signature and “Nininger MN May 6th 1882” on title page. Nininger is now a ghost town, with very little remaining of the original town, Donnelly was referred to as “The Sage of Nininger.” A scholarly work that investigates the historical authenticity and the specific time and place of Homer's epic poems, the Iliad and the Odyssey. Gladstone argues the epics are grounded in historical reality, not just oral tradition, and uses archaeological findings (especially Schliemann's discoveries in Troy) and other evidence to propose a more precise chronology for Homer and his works. The book is a comparative study of ancient civilizations, examining the historical influences on Homer's poetry. Occasional underlining and marginalia from Donnelly, along with a leaf preserved between two pages. Hardcover with gilt decorated boards and light shelfwear.

09/13/2025

https://www.facebook.com/watkinsbooks/posts/pfbid02pJLE4VxyrkNTVELpzgPrtagzoSSHNo6LbiWVsV29yZfCrCh1ngE8BdcNUKcWRdeMl

Just in from Rose Ankh Publishing Ltd:
PROSPERO'S ISLE: Gerald Gardner and Witchcraft on the Isle of Man by John Callow

Signed copies are now available through: https://shop.watkinsbooks.com/products/prosperos-isle-by-john-callow

As rebel, adventurer, and religious visionary, Gerald Gardner forged Wicca upon the Isle of Man. His powerful re-imagining of modern witchcraft as a nature religion and source of female empowerment, stripped of its demonic current, was profoundly shaped by the folklore and landscape of this rugged Celtic island, set adrift in the Irish Sea.

It found its form in his writings and in the creation of The Witches’ Mill, a Manx museum devoted to the Craft, which for more than twenty years served to challenge and change popular attitudes towards the witch and her art, and to usher in a new and surprising age of tolerance to a figure that was once so bitterly feared and despised.

This modern day ‘Prospero’ had found both his Isle and his purpose, honing and defining a form of magical practice that was capable of reviving the worship of the ‘old gods’ and of inspiring feminist and environmental movements from the late Twentieth Century through to the new Millenium.

This book provides a gateway to his ideas and achievement, an insight into the genesis of a new religion that took on the mantle of the old, and to a magic that acted to dispel fear, to give delight, and to hurt not.

07/01/2025

Explore our latest collection of antiquarian occult and unusual books at Transmutation Publishing. Our curated selection includes rare titles on ancient civilizations, Tibetan Buddhism, and Chinese superstitions, perfect for collectors and scholars alike. Domestic shipping is included, while international shipping is available at cost. Reserve your preferred titles today!

Email from Transmutation Publishing   Here is our latest offering of antiquarian occult and unusual books. Please email us if there is anything that you'd like reserved. International shipping is adde

07/03/2024

Illustration from "Legends and Superstitions of the Sea and of Sailors In All of Sailors in All Lands and at All Times by Fletcher S. Bassett, published in 1885"

07/03/2024

(Three Volume Set) The Papyrus of Ani A Reproduction in Facsimile Edited, with Hieroglyphic Transcript, Translation, and Introduction by E. A. Wallis Budge, published in 1913. Sections Include: The Recensions of the Book of the Dead, The Legend of Osiris, The Doctrine of Eternal Life, Egyptian Ideas about God and the “Gods”, List of the Gods Whose Names Were Recited by the Deceased to Perfect His Spirit Soul, The Abode of the Blessed, The Gods of the Book of the Dead, Hymn to Ra the Sun God, Hymn to Osiris, The Chapters of Coming Forth by Day, etc. etc. The third volume contains fold out colored plates in pristine condition. All volumes hardcover in blue with gilt Egyptian motif on boards. Light shelfwear to corners and ends only. $1200.00