Thaumaturgia; Or, Elucidations of the Marvellous by An Oxonian

Description

Thaumaturgia; Or, Elucidations of the Marvellous is a book by someone writing as “An Oxonian”, first published in 1835. Written in a learned, 19th-century prose, the work surveys popular and scholarly accounts of magic, demonology, divination, alchemy, astrology and other supernatural lore — moving between antiquarian description, historical anecdote and the curious scholarship of its day. The tone is investigative rather than devotional: it catalogues wonders and wonders-tellers, traces classical and medieval lineages for occult practices, and sets these alongside contemporary (for the author) folklore and ritual. This makes the book useful to readers researching historical occultism, Victorian attitudes to the marvellous, or the early modern transmission of magical ideas. Far from a how-to manual, the book reads as an eclectic cultural history and commentary on belief: discussions range from oracles and oracular devices to Paracelsian medicine, the Rosicrucian tradition, and popular tales of healers and charlatans. For readers looking for books on 19th-century occult, Victorian demonology, history of magic, alchemy and divination, this title offers both vivid period detail and a skeptical, antiquarian perspective.

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