A deluxe edition of one of the most enigmatic books of Western occultism, recognized as a key work in the history of cryptology.
Written by the Benedictine monk Johannes Trithemius, the text of the Steganographia represents an early work on magical practice, invoking spirits for the purpose of sending secret messages over long distances without the possibility of detection.
After Trithemius's death, the work was copied and spread quietly across Europe, until it was finally published in Frankfurt in 1606. However, beneath the surface of the Steganographia revealed yet another secret. It was not just a book on magic but equally a cleverly hidden book on cryptography, showing how to conceal messages in otherwise innocuous text that was itself hidden in a work on magical practice.
In this book, editor and translator Colin D. Campbell clearly establishes the primary intent of the Steganographia as a method of cryptography, while honoring Trithemius's foundational core principles of magical practice and securing its placement as a significant influence on the corpus of Western occult literature.
