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Libra Esoterica

The Real History of the Rosicrucians

Founded on their own manifestoes, and on facts and documents collected from the writings of initiated Brethren

by Arthur Edward Waite

  • First published:
  • 19th century
  • Language: English

The Real History of the Rosicrucians is a book by Arthur Edward Waite, first published in 1887. This comprehensive study investigates the origins, doctrines, and influence of the mysterious Rosicrucian brotherhood, separating historical fact from myth and legend. Waite examines the early Rosicrucian manifestos, the cultural and philosophical context of their appearance in 17th-century Europe, and the secretive movements and esoteric traditions they inspired. With a critical yet sympathetic approach, the book explores the symbolic language, alchemical themes, and spiritual ideals associated with the order, while dismantling popular misconceptions and spurious claims. It remains a foundational text for those seeking an informed and thoughtful exploration of one of the most enigmatic and influential societies in Western esotericism.

Provenance

Why this book is in the catalog

Included because retained bibliographic metadata links this work to Initiatory orders and secret societies and Occultism and esotericism.

  • Occultism and esotericism

    Controlled discovery queries from global-grey matched “Occult Teachings and Traditions”. Retained metadata contains “esoteric” in the description, “Esotericism” in the description, “occult” in the subject metadata, and 1 additional metadata match(es).

    • Occult Teachings and Traditions· via Global Grey ebooks
    • esoteric· in description
    • Esotericism· in description
    • occult· in subject
    • Occult Teachings and Traditions· in subject
  • Controlled discovery queries from openlibrary matched “Rosicrucians”. Retained metadata contains “Rosicrucians” in the title, “rosicrucian” in the description, “Rosicrucians” in the description, and 3 additional metadata match(es).

    • Rosicrucians· via Open Library
    • Rosicrucians· in title
    • rosicrucian· in description
    • Rosicrucians· in description
    • Rosicrucians· in subject
    • Secret societies· in subject

Membership records how this book met the catalog’s discovery criteria — relevance to a tradition, not a judgment of the book’s claims.

Read & download

Free, public copies reported by our sources. Links open the source directly.

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Buy or borrow

Links to ISBN 083341738X; other editions may be cheaper. WorldCat shows libraries near you that hold a copy.

Editions

Open Library reports 5 editions; 2 cataloged here.

Global Grey ebook edition (available formats vary by title)

Global Grey ebooksEnglishPublic download

Founded on their own manifestoes, and on facts and documents collected from the writings of initiated Brethren

Open Library record

November 30, 2005Adamant Media CorporationEnglish
  • 9781402197697
  • 1402197691
No ebook

Subjects

6 subject headings

Identifiers & provenance

How this record was assembled, and the authority identifiers it carries.

Cataloging notes

  • Open Library reports 5 editions; this snapshot catalogs one representative edition and preserves work-level ISBN, date, and publisher aggregates.
Catalog id
openlibrary-work:OL1111280W
Edition coverage
Multi source partial
Retrieved