★ Ormsby, Frank Earl [XIX-XX secolo]. The law and the prophets: a scientific work on the relationship between physical bodies, vegetable, animal, human, and planetary. Designed for the instruction and guidance of students in the occult sciences. By Frank Earl Ormsby. A magian mystic. Illustrated. Chicago 1893. [Al verso del titolo: A.L. Feye, Chicago 1894].
In 8° (23 cm), pp. xiv 15-210. Ritratto dell’Autore e schema di un oroscopo (symbol of wisdom) nelle pagine iniziali. 51 ulteriori illustrazioni a piena pagina (1 a colori) e 2 (1 a colori) a mezza pagina.
Nella Preface Ormsby scrive cose di perfetto buon senso: Astrology, so called, which has been practiced by many unscrupolous pretenders for many years, is generally understood to mean fortune-telling. The abuse of the science of the stars by those who have thus attempted to foretell future events, and answer personal questions, giving exact dates, and hours for the fullfilment of certain business, as well as other promises, the number of husbands, wives, and even children that a person will have, […] leads me to state: no man knoweth the future, except in a general way. The personal act of an individual cannot be determined by the stars. The personal feelings of every individual may be, by their acts under the impulses given by such feelings, no man can foretell.
Le frasi che ho riprodotto sono a mio parere le più importanti, perché il testo, poi, è percorso da un inopportuno misticismo e le diagnosi puramente astrologiche sono francamente un po’ sballate.
Esemplari: Grinnell College, Iowa; Brigham Young University Library, Utah; Library of Congress; New York Public Library Research; Maricopa Community Colleges, Arizona.