[ESOTERIC] DICKIE, Matthew W.

Magic & Magicians in The Greco-Roman Word

London: Routledge, 2001. First U.K. Edition. Octavo. 24cm. Publisher's black cloth titled in silver gilt to spine. Dustjacket. [viii]; 380pp. Some light bumping at the spine ends, otherwise clean and tight; internally clean, with some light thumbing to page edges; in a bright, strong dustjacket with a little wear and shallow creasing to the upper edge and extremities. A very good, bright copy indeed.

Rather than being a direct history of magic in the ancient world, this is more of an attempt to investigate the identities of magical workers in ancient Greece and Rome. Not so much concerned with craft as to who was utilizing it; was it mostly women, members of the priestly classes, from which social strata did they originate? Generally studies of magic tend to be pre-occupied with the type of magic, and the nature of its components and methods; an investigation into who could be identified as a magician, witch, or wizard, and how they ended up in that position, makes for a refreshing variation.

Price: $125.00

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