Complete Book of Fortune Telling

Beginning on page 26 and continuing through page 48
The Complete Book of Fortune Telling is about the Tarot.

isbn 0-517-20262-X (c) Gramercy Press 1998
Random House Value Publishing, Inc.

The book is 628 pages of amazing information, compiled by
an author or authors unnamed (a major failing by Gramercy).
There's no way to tell exactly when it was first published,
but the wealth of material is strikingly fresh and insightful.
My impression is that it was originally published c.1930.

The low, low price of this book is misleading: it's a goldmine!


jmd: you may want to add this one to your list...

Just wondering... does anybody else have this?

I have a book that I refer to called the 'Complete Book of Fortune' but I am not sure if it is the same.

I cannot find a date in it but I can say that it is very, very old. It has a hardback green cover with a picture of a crystal ball, some stars and a moon, an owl and some playing cards on it. It came from a second hand book sellers by the coast in southern England. The cover is ragged and it says it was bound by Greycaine Limited, Watford, Herts.

It starts with playing cards and goes on to dice and dominoes, tea leaves, crystal gazing, dreams, Naploeon's Book of Fate, the science of numbers, physiognomy, phrenology, chrirognomy and chiromancy, oracles, omens and superstitions. The second part talks about talismans, amulets, meanings of christian names, precious stones, meanings and language of flowers and colour. The third part is about astrology and the birthday calendar.

Is this the same one?

It has 640 pages.

Would be interested if anyone else uses this; this one looks like it has just fallen off of an ancient wizards bookshelf. It has definitely been used a lot. I cannot post attatchments but can email a photo to someone if they are interested.

LB

The one I have is published by Associated Newspapers and I think it is the one that appears in the following list under 't' for 'the'

The Complete Book of Fortune
http://www.newwiccanchurch.net/gglibrary/na.htm

There is no date or author on this list either. Would be interested to know how old my copy is.

LB

That's it! Contents in 3 Parts... ends with
the Science of Astrology.

And yours has no publication date or author..?

Mine is a modern reprint, and I thought they'd
cut that info out for some unknown reason...

How old would you guess your book is?

In terms of age, I just couldn't say. I was looking for clues and all that I can come up with from the tarot section is when the 'author' talks about eminent and profound occultists, Waite is not mentioned. Does this mean it pre-dates the Rider Waite? The small illustrations are all Marseille. When speaking about the 'Juggler', he/she says "or Magician". When was the first transitionfrom Juggler to Magician - does anyone know?

Just by judging how the book looks, it could possibly pre-date the Waite deck; I have other books that look 'similar' in style and they date to around 1913 - this one looks slightly more used than that though. It really needs to be seen. It looks ancient, lol.

LB

My guess of circa 1930 was iffy, based on writing style,
but of course that is not an essential indicator, per se.
1870 would work just as well. My reprint is misleading.

It is un-like anything Waite ever published, but then he
specialised in critical literary translations of the occult.

What especially impresses me is the book's overall clarity,
and extremely thorough and inclusive subject coverage.

Do you think a local librarian would be able to estimate
the age of origin for your copy, or about its background?

Have just pm'd you Fulgour, regarding photos of the book.

Just looking at the cover, I wonder if it looks like one that would be around the 30's or 40's - it just seems to have the style about it.

It is a very enigmatic book and as I said in my pm, you do get an odd but strong feeling from it when you hold it.

Regards

LB

Have posted the photos to you Fulgour. Hope they reach you.

LB

I think I have a date for you...

A search of that ISBN on Amazon came up with not only the book, but a review by Paul Huson, the son of the author! It is as follows:

"When my father, Richard Huson, as an editor for Associated Newspapers Ltd, first compiled this book in 1936, it was published under the title of THE COMPLETE BOOK OF FORTUNE. He drew on the expertise of the foremost exponents of the mantic arts of the time, and maybe because of this, the book retains its readability to this day. It is good to see a facsimile edition brought out under the imprint of Gramercy, even though my father's informative introduction has been replaced by a short, perfunctory preface by J.L.Smythe."

Hope this helps! There are some used copies of this available very cheaply, I'm thinking of getting one, it sounds fascinating!