THE STARRY WISDOM LIBRARY
THE CATALOGUE OF THE GREATEST OCCULT BOOK AUCTION OF ALL TIME
An anthology edited by Nate Pedersen
Scholars and book collectors across the country have long pondered the intended fate of the infamous collection of rare occult books left to rot in the Church of Starry Wisdom in Providence, Rhode Island, after the Starry Wisdom cult dispersed to parts unknown in the late 19th century.
The recent, shocking discovery of a previously unknown book auction catalogue issued in 1877 offers insight into the myriad mysteries of the cult. Entitled “Catalogue of the Occult Library of the Recently Disbanded Church of Starry Wisdom of Providence, Rhode Island,” and issued by the notorious Arkham firm Pent & Serenade, the catalogue reveals the long-suspected fact that the Church intended to sell its library to finance its removal from Providence.
The sale, of course, never materialized—as later events make obvious—but the book auction catalogue informs us of the cult’s
original intent and leaves for us an enormously valuable and fascinating piece of ephemera detailing the infamous collection of rare occult books in all of its dark and foreboding glory.
Furthermore, the book auction catalogue is unique amongst its contemporaries in that the auction firm Pent & Serenade—recognizing
the importance of the exceedingly rare volumes in the cult’s possession—commissioned a wide variety of 19th-century scholars to write essays on the histories of the books offered at auction.
As such, the catalogue is a uniquely—almost absurdly—valuable item for scholars and collectors around the world, and is presented here in exacting facsimile by PS Publishing.
Contributors
Allyson Bird, “The Scroll of Karnak”
Ann K. Schwader, “The Black Rites”
Andrew Leman, “Practise of Chymicall and Hermeticall Physicke”
Carrie Cuinn, “L’Image du Monde”
Christopher Hanson, “The Pnakotic Manuscripts”
Daniel M. Harms, “The Book of Dzyan”
Darrel Schweitzer, “The Nameless Tome”
Donald Tyson, “Liber Damnatus”
Don Webb, “The Black Sutra”
E. Molly Tanzer, “Hieron Aigypton”
Edmund P. Berglund, “Cultus Maleficarum”
Edward R. Morris, Jr., “Lebor Gabala Erenn”
F. Paul Wilson, “Unaussprechlichen Kulten”
Gemma Files, “The Testament of Carnamagos”
Glynn Barrass, “The Book of Azathoth”
Genevieve Valentine, “The Seven Cryptical Books of Hsan”
H. P. Lovecraft, “The Necronomicon”
Jonathan Kearns, “Cataloging Notes”
Jesse Bullington, “Il Tomo della Bicocca”
Jayaprakash Satyamurthy, “The Chyhaa Rituals”
Joseph S. Pulver, Sr., “The King in Yellow”
J. J. Wells, “Observations on the Several Parts of Africa”
John Langan, “Les Mysteres du Ver”
Kaaron Warren, “The Book of Climbing Lights”
Kali Wallace, “The Tablets of Nhing”
Keith Taylor, “The Book of Thoth”
Karin Tidbeck, “Cultes des Goules”
Livia Llewellyn, “Las Reglas des Ruina”
Liv Rainey-Smith, “Figure Captions”
Matt Cardin, “The Daemonolorum”
Michael Cisco, “Liber Ivonis”
Nick Mamatas, “The Black Book of the Skull”
Nate Pedersen, “Thaumaturgical Prodigies in the New English Canaan”
Owen Davies, “Preface”
Pete Rawlik, “Qanoon-e-Islam”
Ramsey Campbell, “The Revelations of Glaaki”
Richard Gavin, “De Masticatione Mortuorum in Tumulis”
Rev. Robert M. Price, “The Book of Iod”
Robin Spriggs, “The Dhol Chants”
Scott Nicolay, “The Ponape Scripture”
Scott David Aniolowski, “Massa di Requiem per Suggay”
Stephen Graham Jones, “Ssthaat Scriptures”
Selena Chambers, “Remnants of Lost Empires”
Scott M. Brents, “A.L.S. from Carroll to Miss Alice Liddell”
Silvia Moreno-Garcia, “El Culto de los Muertos”
Simon Strantzas, “The Black Tome of Alsophocus”
W. H. Pugmire, “The Sesqua Valley Grimoire”