[AMERICAN FOLK MAGIC / GRIMOIRE]. Der lange verborgene Freund, oder Getreuer und Christlicher Unterricht für Jedermann [...] nach ben Reding, in Elsass [i.e., Alsace] Taunschip, Berks Caunty, Pennsylvanien. Und nun auf Begehren zum drittenmal dedruckt by Hohman, Johann Georg - 1840

Harrisburg, PA: s.n., 1840. Stated Third Edition (but see below). Very good. 12mo, 84 pp. Contemporary patterned paper over boards, contemporary sheep spine (binding worn but perfectly sound; damp-staining at the foot of the gutter for the first several gatherings; textblock a bit foxed as is true in all copies). Completely unsophisticated. The most famous folk magic and remedy book written in America, often referred to as the "Pow-Wow" book, first published in Reading in 1820, and with scattered Pennsylvania editions following throughout the 1820s and 1830s; it is still in print after 200 years. Regarding the present copy we are naturally drawn to the unsophisticated contemporary "Pennsylvania Dutch" binding: the pattered decorative paper which covers the pastepaper boards strongly resembles linen fabric; was it employed by the binder as a cheap alternative?

Hohman's book, with its charms, recipes, terminology of illnesses, remedies for human and animal ailments, and magic formulae, continues to fascinate historians and "armchair" grimoire enthusiasts alike. Current interest in this important work is attested by the fact that an English edition was published as recently as 2012 ("The Long-Lost Friend: A 19th-Century American Grimoire," ed. Daniel Harms) and is described by the publisher thusly:

"This is authentic American folk magic at its best -- household remedies combined with charms and incantations to cure common ailments and settle rural troubles. The most well-known grimoire of the New World, this work has influenced the practices of hoodoo, Santeria, Paganism, and other faiths."

This Harrisburg 1840 edition is stated to be the "Third" but this is certainly in error; in does, however, precede the first English translation, and is not found in the AAS catalogue.