Unheard of curiosities in exhibition of rare books on the occult and esoteric sciences,
showcases where books from special collections in university archives that display evidence
of the enduring popular interest in a diverse constellation of occult topics, from the 16th
century to the present day.
The exhibition primarily features books collected by the late Rutgers professor of English,
Clement Fairweather, and it's referred to as the Fairweather Collection.
The majority of the Fairweather Collection covers topics related to Astronomy and Astrology,
ranging from mathematical and scientific treatments to its importance in popular culture.
One significant portion of the exhibition and the Fairweather Collection pertains to
alchemy.
While alchemy is a multifaceted subject, it is clearly an exploration of the nature of
substances.
The history of chemistry is represented by alchemical works of the 16th and 17th centuries.
OFten associated with astrology, it is also a philosophy of the cosmos and of mankind’s
place in it.
Within the Fairweather Collection and in the exhibition, works on witchcraft and magic
fall into two categories, those texts of the 16th and 17th century regarding witch trials
in Europe and 19th century books.
The works largely pertaining to witch trials include multiple viewpoints of the time.
Predominantly in England, witchcraft is a subject of considerable scholarly attention
as well as enthusiastic popular interest.
A major portion of the Fairweather Cult Collection and the exhibition features the 19th century
revival of astrology and the occult.
Not really a revival, but a transformation in the broad scope and popularity of this
complex world view.
The myriad of philosophies and phenomenon familiar to us today gained impressive popularity
at this time.
A significant section of the exhibition deals with Aleister Crowley.
Crowley was a British poet, novelist, and Occultist infamous throughout England and
the United States as the wickedest man in the world.
Crowley was one of the most important figures in the revival of modern western occultism
and magic in the 20th century.
During his later years, he focused on building the OTO and publishing his writing.
The exhibition features several works by William Godwin, one of the first exponents of utilitarianism
and a founder of modern anarchism, Godwin featured prominently in the radical circles
of London in the 1790’s.
Godwin explored the themes of life extension and immortality in his gothic novel featured
here, St Leon: A Tale of the Sixteenth Century.
An interesting section of the exhibition and the Fairweather collection pertains to ancient
Egypt.
Some specific examples of items in the exhibition on Egypt include Lorenzo Pignoria’s Mensa
Isiaca.
The hieroglyphs are nonsense and the scenes are in Egyptian style, but do not depict true
Egyptian rites.
Nevertheless, the central figure in the chapel can be recognized as ISIS.
Another work on Egypt and the near east, and also the inspiration for the exhibition title
is Jacques Gaffarel’s Unheard of Curiosities.
It was an encyclopedia of talismans, horoscopes, popular astrology, and near east astrology.
The occult, like beauty, is in the eye of the beholder.
This come to be an umbrella term for any number of beliefs or practices deemed unscientific.
Those shunned or forgotten knowledges, or perhaps more importantly, that knowledge which
exists on the fringes of the mainstream or popular belief systems.
Out of this came the assemblage of rejected knowledge that makes up the occults.