BRANN, Noel L

The Abbot Trithemius ( 1462 - 1516 ) The Renaissance of Monastic Humanism ( Studies of the History of Human Thought Volume XXIV )

      E.J. Brill, Leiden 1981 Hardcover, large 8 vo. xxvi + 400 pp. A major study of the life and works of Johannes Trithemius (1462-1516), the Benedictine Abbot. Most widely known as monastic humanist, Trithemius, was also fascinated by history the occult, cryptography and steganography (the art writing secret messages encoded in such a way that no one save the write and recipient even realise that there is a secret message), with his most famous work, 'Steganographia,' appearing to be a grimoire, but actually being a treatise on that subject. Curiously the cipher manuscripts which formed the foundation block of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn were encrypted using a simple substitution code described by Trithemius in his book 'Polygraphia.' From the collection of Robert Oscar Lenkiewicz (1941 - 2002), the noted British artist, eccentric, and student and collector of works on Hermetica and the arcane sciences. Some scraps of paper with Lenkiewicz's notes, page references etc. loosely inserted in the text. Navy cloth with gilt titling to upper board and spine, b&w illustrations, bibliography, index. Just a hint of shelf dust, otherwise a sound and bright Near Fine copy in VG+ dust jacket. (Dust jacket lightly rubbed with a few very light stray marks to panels). [Attributes: Hard Cover; In Dust Jacket]