ne can shed a tear.
Yet at least it served to raise our daily lives out of the rut of
commonplace. Our pulses are no longer stirred at the mere mention of the
word MAGIC, and even BLACK MAGIC is coldly discussed where not so very
long ago none would have dared to speak it save with 'bated breath.' Yet
we are all mystics by birth, and scarce one of us there is who as a child
has not experienced the fear of darkness. We cannot explain it, and
though the child may soon be taught to laugh at his fear, yet none the
less was he endowed with this unaccountable dread of the UNKNOWN.

Among real book-collectors probably this particular branch of specialism
attracts but few; for the greater part of those who collect such works
are students of the occult (whether serious or idle) and have no true
love for their books qua books. Seemingly it is an absorbing hobby, for
those who devote their attention to necromancy soon become known among
their friends.

'Philosophy is odious and obscure;
Both Law and Physic are for petty wits;
Divinity is basest of the three,
Unpleasant, harsh, contemptible, and vile;
'Tis magic, magic, that hath ravish'd me.'

Thus Doctor Faustus, the Gamaliel of those whose study are the arcana of
nature and the world of shadows. Yet whether we be mystics or
materialists what would not each one of us (not necessarily bibliophiles)
give to possess the volume which Faustus had at the hands of
Mephistophilis?

_Meph._ 'Hold, take this book, peruse it thoroughly:
The iterating of these lines brings gold;
The framing of this circle on the ground
Brings whirlwinds, tempests, thunder, and lightning;
Pronounce this thrice devoutly to thyself,
And men in armour shall appear to thee,
Ready to execute what thou desir'st.'

_Faust._ 'Thanks, Mephistophilis; yet fain would I have a book
wherein I might behold all spells and incantations, that I
might raise up spirits when I please.'

_Meph._ 'Here they are in this book.' [_Turns to them._]

_Faust._ 'Now would I have a book where I might see all characters
and planets of the heavens, that I might know their
motions and dispositions.'

_Meph._ 'Here they are too.' [_Turns to them._]

_Faust._ 'Nay, let me have one book more--and then I have done--wherein
I might see all plants, herbs, and trees, that
grow u