Harry E. Wedeck (1894–1996)
Author of A Treasury of Witchcraft
About the Author
Works by Harry E. Wedeck
Classics of Roman literature, from the literary beginnings to the end of the silver age (1964) — Editor — 16 copies, 1 review
Associated Works
Tagged
Common Knowledge
- Canonical name
- Wedeck, Harry E.
- Birthdate
- 1894
- Date of death
- 1996-07
- Gender
- male
- Occupations
- Classics lecturer
- Short biography
- Harry E. Wedeck was a linguistic, scholar of the classics, and observer of spheres beyond the norm. A native of Sheffield, England, Prof. Wedeck was chairman of the department of classical languages at Erasmus Hall High School in Brooklyn from 1935 to 1950 and then taught the classics at Brooklyn College until 1968. Afterward he lectured on medieval studies at the New School for Social Research until 1974. Some of his excursions into the unusual remain available in reprint editions. They include Dictionary of Astrology, A Dictionary of Aphrodisiacs, A Treasury of Witchcraft and Triumph of Satan. They were originally written near the end of Prof. Wedeckâs career, when he was steeped in the classics as an educator in the New York City school and college system.
- Birthplace
- UK
- Places of residence
- UK
US - Associated Place (for map)
- UK
Members
Reviews
When I first obtained this book, I initially added it to the to-sell pile based on the tweet-length entries and my quick assessment of it as a dated, shallow and probably uninteresting pop occult encyclopedia. Then, I decided to look a little closer and it was drawn in from the initial epigram from "Song: Go and catch a falling star" by John Donne. Then, what I thought was an unsorted collection of entries came to be seen as topically related quotes and facts drawns from varied cultures and show more times, if all goetic. (There is a rich lexicon of witchy words here.) Also, there are many interesting, full-page B&W illustrations; woodcuts, Goya, etc. One thing that really spoke to me is the translations of ancient tablets from Assyria, Egypt, etc. where average people called out for magical assistance. Indeed, isn't magic a desperate attempt to actualize human will in a misunderstood and cruel world? Witches chants and incantations of nonsense alliteration and recipes for love philtres, etc. This can be dipped into anywhere and is a fascinating collection of arcane curiosa. Despite great breadth, the focus is on 14th - 16th Century Europe and magick varieties through the lens of Christianity. show less
Interesting, poignant novelization of Lafacadio Hearn's life - someone I've always found fascinating. However, it's a bit dated and has some rascist overtones at times...At one point Hearn embraces a black woman: "Madly he felt her muscles ripple responsively, and he sensed the primal odor of her, wafted from remote tribal haunts." Hearn was an expat most of his life and only when he was about to die did he obtain any real recognition.
Dr Wedeck, a lecturer in classics at Brooklyn College, in the briefest of Forewords, describes his work as "a dictionary that embraces the lexicographical field of words, phrases, and allusions that stem from classical sources". Where Greeks and Romans had a word for it, here it is.
This Treasury is an anthology, in English translation of the most distinctive literary acheivements of the Romans, in the fields of drama, philosophy, history, satire, oratory and analogous categories.
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Statistics
- Works
- 26
- Also by
- 1
- Members
- 785
- Popularity
- #32,426
- Rating
- 3.6
- Reviews
- 5
- ISBNs
- 63