Lot 215
Occult
Cheiro's Private Arcana of Astrology
£1,386
Auction: 19 September 2024 from 10:00 BST
Description
c.1929 or later. Mimeographed typescript printed on rectos only, 15 volumes numbered 1-10 (including 3a, 4a, 5a, 9a, 10a), 4to (26 x 20cm), original pictorial yellow wrappers, staple-bound along top edges, diagrams in text, printed signatures of ‘Cheiro’ and the editor R. H. T. Naylor to wrappers and title-pages, staples rusted, volume 1 wrappers nicked, volume 3 lacking one staple (of 3) and contents now loose, worming to volume 4
Footnote
An extremely rare astrological course-book attributed to one of the leading society occultists during the spiritualist heyday of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. ‘Cheiro’ is now believed to be the alias of William John Warner (1866-1936), an Irish journalist of apparently humble origins, despite his claims of noble descent and adoption of various aristocratic titles. Having been introduced to London society by Arthur Balfour, he became a celebrity fortune-teller consulted by figures ranging from Edward VII to Oscar Wilde, whose story 'Lord Arthur Savile's Crime' concerns a rogue chiromantist. He published several hugely successful books on chiromancy, a novel, and a book of poetry. A notice on the title-page of each volume reads: ‘Issued as absolutely private and confidential instruction. Courses issued under similar titles and names are spurious; note is genuine without the signature of “Cheiro” countersigned by the Editor’. The current year in the appendix to the tenth volume, ‘On Time Standards’, is cited as 1929.
