Astrology library progress report
– No. 28: 5th March, 2016
This past week, I have taken delivery of a box of mid-20th century American astrological magazines kindly offered by an astrologer friend in England, Julian Venables.
Julian first informed me of this lot in July 2011, telling me a charming story of how he came about them:
“I came across them by pure coincidence, through meeting a very interesting older astrologer (in her 70’s) in 2007 who passed them onto me ‘because I think you were meant to have them’ “.
In due course, he felt in his turn that they belonged in a permanent established collection, and with that consideration in mind he turned to me.
Although I did not know which titles and issues to expect, I was happy to accept. In the event, approximately eighty-nine whole magazine issues and two popular almanac issues turned out to be new to my collection and have been added in to the online catalogue accordingly this past week.
The highlights of the additions from my point of view are three issues of “The Astrologer”, seven issues of “Astrology Guide”, 27 issues of “[Dell] Horoscope”, 17 issues of “World Astrology”, four issues of “Wynn’s Astrology”, and one of “American Astrology”. These are all important mid-20th-century American publications whose every issue adds something valuable to the documentation of the history of astrology in the 20th century.
Additionally, I now have over fifty duplicates of various titles that he has given me permission to list for sale to good homes through this website in due course.
So, a big thank you to Julian Venables for his thoughtfulness! Bringing scattered primary literary sources on astrology together into a coherent archive for posterity is the greater part of the purpose of my collecting this material at all, and he has made a valuable contribution to this goal. I am only a transient facilitating medium in the service of history, which is to say the knowledge and understanding of the past to be held by future generations; and when my time is done, whether that be surprisingly soon or not for a great many years, there will surely be others willing to take up the baton.
Philip
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