Harry E. Wedeck

Whether one reads only newspapers or nothing more serious than a short story or a novel--whatever one reads one is constantly running up against an allusion to the Ancient Classics of Greece and Rome and, in almost every intelligent sentence or statement, one is meeting words that are fully understandable only if one knows something of their Greek or Latin origins.

Dictionary of Magic by Harry E. Wedeck offers a broad understanding of the field of witchcraft, the occult, and its many manifestations, from early Babylonian times to the present day. It includes knowledge of words in this area from many continents and practices. It also discusses and analyzes occult practices and notable wizards and demonographers. Harry E. Wedeck was a linguistic, scholar of the classics, and observer of spheres beyond the norm. A native of Sheffield, England, Mr. 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 Mr. Wedeck's career, when he was steeped in the classics as an educator in the New York City school and college system.