Leo, Bessie ‘[Alan Leo’s Astrological Manuals. No. III:] Planetary Influences’ (inner title) / ‘[Alan Leo’s Astrological Manuals. No. 3.] Planetary Influences – A Simple and Explanatory Manual’ (front board) – Second Edition, Revised and Supplemented by Alan Leo – “Modern Astrology” Office, Imperial Buildings, Ludgate Circus, E. C. / L. N. Fowler & Co., 7 Imperial Arcade, E. C., London, 1910.
Two copies. Both copies: Original small-format cloth. Copy A: (Boards slightly warped; spine bumped and stained; wear to foot of spine; moderate wear to lower outer corners of boards; light wear to top of front hinge and upper outer corner of rear board; separation down rear inner paper hinge; light separation to front equivalent). (Trace of damp-staining to lower margins of first two internal leaves and of front paste-down.) Copy B: (Wear to top of spine; light wear to outer corners of boards. Front inner paper hinge completely broken, separating book block from front board: needs professional repair. Remains of former library pocket to front paste-down. Remains of Theosophical Society in England sticker to upper margin of page facing title page. Further library inked marking and withdrawal stamp on page following title page.) Both copies: [5] + 90 + [pp. 91-98 of advertisements] + [1 page of advertisements]
About this Book Scan
Carefully scanned in full colour from the better of our two original printings of the 1910 second edition.
Bessie Leo was a theosophist who was married to Alan Leo and significantly influenced him into exploring astrology from a theosophical perspective. She took an interest of her own in the exploration of astrological symbolism from a theosophical point of view, and this was reflected in the astrological essays she contributed at various times to the pages of Modern Astrology magazine.
Planetary Influences, the shortest of three separately published anthologies of her essays in the magazine, was originally published as a book in 1906. It was her only contribution as a named author to the series of fourteen Astrological Manuals collectively edited by Alan Leo from 1901 to 1912, her other two anthologies having appeared outside that context. On first publication, it had occupied the sixth position in the running order of the Manuals, but by the time of the present edition of 1910, it had been moved to third place.
The 1906 edition is also available from Astrolearn as a separate download by way of comparison. Although the first two editions are of roughly the same overall page count, we note that the original edition has more prefatory pages than that of 1910. Furthermore, the second edition is notably billed, unlike the first, as having been ‘revised and supplemented by Alan Leo’, so a closer comparison between them to see what changes he made may yet be merited and prove enlightening.