Raphael, the Astrologer of the 19th Century ‘The Guide to Astrology, containing a Complete System of Genethliacal Astrology In One Volume’ W. Foulsham & Co., 4, Pilgrim Street, Ludgate Hill, E.C., London, 1905.
Original gilt-stamped cloth. [1 leaf] + [2] + [pp. 5-132]
About this Book Scan
Raphael was a pseudonym adopted by successive editors of Raphael’s Almanac (originally Raphael’s Prophetic Messenger) from its inception in 1926 onwards.
Only two of the several Raphaels branched out into publishing multiple books under the same pseudonym. The first was the original Raphael, Robert Cross Smith. The second was the longest-standing holder of the position, Robert Thomas Cross, whose new book publications spanned from 1877 to the early 1910s; and many of them were still being reprinted long after his death.
His first important astrological book, published in 1877, was his Guide to Astrology Volume I. This was followed in 1879 by Volume II of the same title. The two-volume set was reprinted several times in the decades to follow.
In 1905, a decision was taken to merge their salient points into a single, more concise volume at a price that more buyers could afford. Thus, the rewritten one-volume Raphael’s Guide to Astrology was born. It proved successful enough in this new guise to run through several later reprints.
Our scan offered here is taken from our original printing of the 1905 true first edition thus.