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Paul Ferguson Member 
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"Writing under the nom de plume of Lapidus, David Curwen (1893-1984) was one of the most mysterious personalities of modern alchemysticism, and one of the very few practicing laboratory alchemists residing in the United Kingdom during the latter half of the 20th century. In the decades since the publication of the first edition of In Pursuit of Gold in 1976, many have speculated regarding the true identity of Lapidus, and a few individuals have even laid claim to be the enigmatic adept. An intensely private man, very little information has been publicly available about Lapidus prior to the publication of the revised and expanded second edition of In Pursuit of Gold by Salamander and Sons in 2011. "Lost for more than three decades, the companion volume to In Pursuit of Gold has been found. For decades students of alchemy have believed that In Pursuit of Gold – hailed upon its 1976 publication as a rare work by one of the few practicing laboratory alchemists writing in English during the mid-to-late 20th century – constituted the sole alchemical text penned by the enigmatic alchemist Lapidus. The truth is that Lapidus – real name David Curwen – wrote a second text which, unknown to most, he secreted away with at least one trusted Brother in the Art." http://www.salamanderandsons.com/modern-magistery/the-pass-keys.html http://thefirelizard.wordpress.com/tag/lapidus/ Attached Image (viewed 943 times): |
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adammclean Member 
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This has been somewhat delayed but I understand it will be published this month, December 2012. |
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Paul Ferguson Member
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Paul Ferguson wrote:Lapidus – real name David Curwen – His original name was I believe David Cohen. |
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Rafal T. Prinke Member 
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It seems that he studies tantra and corresponded with Crowley before moving on to alchemy. The correspondence was published by Henrik Bogdan, together with a biographical sketch by his grandson, Tony Matthews. See the info on publishers' page (about half way down): http://www.teitanpress.com/ A bit expensive, though... |
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Paul Ferguson Member
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Rafal T. Prinke wrote:It seems that he studies tantra and corresponded with Crowley before moving on to alchemy. The correspondence was published by Henrik Bogdan, together with a biographical sketch by his grandson, Tony Matthews. See the info on publishers' page (about half way down): "Edition limited to 777 numbered copies." I love that.  |
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Paul Ferguson Member
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Paul Ferguson wrote:Paul Ferguson wrote: "Their family name was Lapidus but unable to spell this for the immigration authority, he accepted registration as Shmul (later Anglicized to Samuel) Cohen...Although the name Lapidus was never used by the family in England, my grandfather was interested in his heritage and used it as a nom de plume when writing a book on his pet subject of alchemy." Nomen est omen? http://www.jewishvilkaviskis.org/Ted%20Mathews.html Last edited on Mon Dec 17th, 2012 05:56 am by Paul Ferguson |
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