Mary Anne Atwood (1817–1910) originally published the work anonymously in 1850. Written after years of research undertaken with her father, Thomas South, it interpreted the obscure language and operations of the alchemists as veiled descriptions of an interior process: the purification and regeneration of man. Shortly after publication, father and daughter concluded that the book revealed secrets that should have remained concealed. Almost the entire edition was withdrawn and destroyed. The surviving copies consequently acquired considerable importance among later students of Hermeticism.

The person principally responsible for its resurrection was Isabelle de Steiger (1836–1927), Atwood’s close friend and herself an important figure in the British occult revival. A painter, Theosophist and student of alchemy, she joined the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn in 1888, subsequently entering its Inner Order and later joining A. E. Waite’s reformed organisation. She also translated Karl von Eckartshausen’s influential The Cloud upon the Sanctuary.

The importance of the present copy lies particularly in de Steiger’s extensive unpublished annotations, which substantially amplify—and at points correct—Walter Leslie Wilmshurst’s printed account of the preparation of this edition. She records that Atwood had given her a corrected copy of the original edition, which de Steiger subsequently supplied to the publisher William Tait. She also complains that proofs of Wilmshurst’s introduction reached her too late to correct his presentation of events.

Most significant are her annotations concerning Atwood’s additional manuscript, published here for the first time as the “Memorabilia.” De Steiger had discovered the manuscript, but states explicitly beside Wilmshurst’s account: “I did not seek it to be incorporated as an appendix. This is a mistake.” Her annotations explain its discovery, transmission and intended destination, providing apparently unique first-hand evidence for the history of a text that considerably supplements Atwood’s original work.

Elsewhere de Steiger records her own evolving engagement with Hermeticism, mesmerism and spiritual transformation, as well as her later admiration for Rudolf Steiner. The different inks and dates demonstrate that this was not merely an association copy but a working book, repeatedly revisited during the final decade of her life.

The volume thus brings together two generations of the modern Hermetic revival: Atwood, whose suppressed 1850 work became a foundational exposition of spiritual alchemy, and de Steiger, Golden Dawn adept, alchemical writer and intimate friend of the author, who ensured its return to print and here recorded the private history behind its publication.

Provenance: Isabelle de Steiger (1836–1927), received directly from the publisher William Tait on 11 May 1918; extensively annotated throughout.

R. A. Gilbert, “Atwood [née South], Mary Anne,” Oxford Dictionary of National Biography; Manly P. Hall, “Mary Anne Atwood—An Hermetic Mystery,” Horizon, vol. 18, no. 1, Summer 1958.