The Magical Writings of Ithell Colquhoun Paperback – January 1, 2007

I read anything this author publishes. His style is that of going to the edge were most authors wouldn't dare.

Though this book has real value as a document from an artist and a practising magician in the GD tradition, it is full of transcription mistakes ("pillows" for "pillars", or again "mercury" for "mercy", among many others) which make it difficult to properly understand for the non-specialist. Some of the information is original and valuable; but most of it exemplifies what is already well-known in GD-related circles. Moreover, the author/editor uses the text of the book itself to promote his own "88-card Tarot of the 4 worlds", without setting any kind of separation between the writings of I. C. and his own promotional text, which might be a source of confusion.

'Magical Writings' is possibly a little misleading, as what this collection consists of is mainly disparate lectures and other notes by Colquhoun. As such, the content of a lot of the material presented will be familiar to readers with an interest in esoterica; particularly the Golden Dawn system and its various offshoots. Conversely, if you are not familiar with this stuff, you may find it difficult to understand what the point of some sections is. There is some original material in here, but not much. Where it does score highly is in showing the breadth of Colquhoun's magical interests. So if you are looking for a magical textbook, this is not it, but as a source of primary materials on Colquhoun, it is indispensable.The book is print on demand, so quality is not great. It contains numerous illustrations and scans of Colquhoun's papers, which could be clearer at times. It is not obvious why some papers have been typeset and others just scanned - Seeing her handwriting is interesting; scans of typed papers, not so much.