Three Books of Occult Philosophy

For those that study the Occult arts, these books are key to ones foundational understanding of all the various aspects occultism in order to become intimately familiar with the spiritual, practical and esoteric side of the Occult. I bought these for my collection, but also have the paperback version I use for study. And of course book four will complete the set if one so desires which is also an excellent read.

This new translation of Agrippa's De Occulta Philosophia is both fluent in its rendition for a modern audience, and a great asset for researchers, with its footnotes indicating the specific primary sources from which the text's many obscure allusions may have been derived. The corrections to questionable translations found in previous editions, also listed in the footnotes, are a philological gift to casual readers and serious scholars alike! If you can own only one version of Agrippa's work in English, I would recommend this one.

This version by Eric Purdue is the most accurate version while being easier to read you'll be able to buy today. Unlike the Llewellyn version which is a few decades old now served us well over the years did have some inaccuracies. Also the text was much more flowery and in older style English so for those that don't like reading text like that, you'll not have an enjoyable time digesting these books. Purdue's version is a healthy mix between the Llewellyn version and the Black Letter Press version by sitting between the two extremes of overly flowery and modern clinical. So while Purdue does simplify the language he takes care not to remove beauty of it. Lastly Purdue does a great job with diagrams and charts and their printing clarity is fantastic, which was a big criticism for the Llewellyn's version that was blurry and low resolution. Well that's all I got to say about the book. It's a must read for those diving into the occult and witchcraft and other magickal practices. Agrippa explains basically every mechanic that goes into the magickal systems we use today and it is incumbent for any practitioner to at least read this text once to know both the ethics and mechanics of magick.

(I am new to the classics, so my review may not be helpful for those who are well versed in them. ) Amazing. This is like a textbook for a university-level Ancient Spirituality 101 course. The Three Books provide a high-level overview of the Spiritual beliefs of the ancients from Plato to Aristotle to the Egyptians and so on. The books provide practical instructions, logic, explantaions. My world has opened up! Purdue does a stellar job providing sources for as much of the data and instructions as possible. His hard work in producing this translation and reference allows me to find the ancient or archaic referenced book(s) on a topic so that I may go deeper. My library is now becoming full of the great minds whom I was led to believe were nothing more than stodgy philosphers; I never realized until this book came along how *spiritual* and practical Plato, Aristotle, etc were! And their knowledge & spirituality were very much based on logic and reason, something that has been removed from modern-day spirituality (from my personal observation and to my chagrin). As one anonymous poster wrote: Modern-day spirituality books are like 5th-grade science books compared to this book being like an intro to biochemistry textbook. TIP: Bookmark an etymology dictionary website to read this. Many words used by Agrippa/Purdue do not have the same modern-day meanings. Example: 'Accidents' Modern meaning: an unfortunate, unforeseen event Aristotle (and thus Agrippa/Purdue) used 'accident' in a philosophical sense to describe "distinction between the essential and accidental properties of a thing. For example, a chair can be made of wood or metal, but this is accidental to its being a chair: that is, it is still a chair regardless of the material from which it is made." (Wikipedia) Therefore all of our individual Accidents makes us *unique* and who we are. But we're still human. Do you see what I mean about how this book is expanding my world? I don't know that I'll ever buy a modern spirituality book again. Thank you for your hard work, Purdue. Friends have already ordered their copy as well.

Not only is this a great translation, but it's worth its weight in gold for the footnotes that reference what is (or most likely is) Agrippa's sources. The translation is clean and rendered in modern, easy to understand English with explanatory notes including many about various species, plants, etc., and what they are known as (or might be known as) today. If you want to read Agrippa, I would get this edition above all others except the Brill edition; however the Brill edition is in Latin and very expensive. I cannot wait until Book 2 in the series comes out, and I plan to order it immediately.

Wow! I received this three volume box set yesterday. It’s been a busy week so I’ve only had a chance to scan Book One. This is quality bound with large text. I’m looking forward to diving into it. Thank you.

Everything was perfect except Book 3 from page 585 to 588 there are holes that must have happened during printing, containing missing information. I would’ve returned it but didn’t want to go through the trouble.

Great books, good luck getting a set without massive damage because they just chuck these sets straight into a box with the bare minimum (my first one was just the box and the set, came completely torn apart). If you try to get them replaced, good luck too because you will be refunded (no more replacements) on the third replacement attempt to get something in "new" condition.

Great quality book set

This is a stunning work! Warnock's attention to detail in unpacking the translation of this classic is admirable, and will deepen the reader's appreciation of this important material, contextualized thus as a compendium of about 200 other books to which most readers will not have access. A real labour of love, which must have taken a very long time to compile. The translation is fluid, inviting, illuminating and easy to read. Also, the material is beautifully formatted, with proper Table of Contents and back-links to the many notes, making for smooth navigation of the text for study purposes. I do really look forward to the next two books being published!

Excelente presentación, buena calidad de impresión y diseño. Buena traducción (ya que el texto original fue escrito en latín).

This is the translation you want.

Beautiful books packaged together! Supper fast and got an amazing deal!!! Can’t wait to read!!! (Will update later)