Dream Book Bibliography
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Dream Books for Divination and Playing the Numbers
Dream Books for Divination and Playing the Numbers
A bibliography compiled by catherine yronwode
Part One
Yronwode Institution for the Preservation and Popularization of Indigenous Ethnomagicology
(Y.I.P.P.I.E.)
Dream Books for Divination and Playing the Numbers Bibliography is copyright 2024 by the Yronwode Institution for the Preservation and Popularization of Indigenous Ethnomagicology (Y.I.P.P.I.E.), and all rights are reserved. In other words, you may download The Dream Books Bibliography and print it out at home for your own use, but you may not further copy it, because the copyright holder controls the copying rights. Specifically, you may not mirror The Dream Book Bibliography to other web sites, you may not distribute it or publish it in print form (either for money or for free), and you may not electronically distribute it in e-lists, electronic forums, social media groups, or usenet (either for money or for free) without the express written permission of the copyright holder.
Thanks to my Patreon Supporters
This online bibliography began as a once-a week scan-catalogue-and-post project for social media, but moving it to a web site is a permanent way to house and display the collection. The number of dream books shown here will grow, while the stacked plastic containers of dream books on the floor of my bedroom will shrink and be moved aside. to make room for more. I undertook this lengthy task because it gives me a chance to go through my collection and select the books with the prettiest covers for folks to view -- but don't kid yourself that this bibliography will ever be complete. I simply have too many dream books for that.
Compiler's Notes on the Contents of This Bibliography:
Books are listed alphabetically by author's surname, but if an author has more than one title, the books for that author are in chronological order by publication date.
Dream Book Bibliography Part One
For more information on how lucky dream numbers are used for lottery lay, click this link to read a brief article i wrote in 1996 about the game of Policy for "Hoodoo in Theory and Practice" by cat yronwode:
"Policy Players' Dream Books" by cat yronwode
The URL you are reading it at now is TEMPORARY. I will write several more parts to this bibliography for my Patrons on individual pages like this, and these will open to the public after one year, thanks to your kind financial support. I will compile all of the pages into one long page and unveil it to the public, with a new URL, at the Yronwode.org home page.
BOOK TITLES
A Dictionary of 1000 Dreams.
The anonymous and probably most-often-reprinted dream book of all time; this edition was copyright and published by Max Stein of Chicago in 1941, but it is a facsimile of text that was first set in the late 19th or very early 20th century.
[Dr. Harter] "Dr. Harter's Dream Book.".
The Dr. Harter Medicine Co., St. Louis, Mo. Circa 1889. 32 pages, paper wraps, illustrated.This pocket-sized dream book is a mix of dream interpretations, floriography, palmistry, birthstone lore, and love spells, interleaved with advertisements and testimonials for Dr. Harter's herbal-mineral based medicines, including German Vermifuge Candy, Wild Cherry Bitters, and Iron Tonic. The testimonials scattered throughout the booklet are dated, which helps us date the item itself, and they range from 1878 to 1888, so i have assigned this booklet to the year 1889.
The cover art is a composite of images. A woman sits in a chair, reading a book, while above her, in the clouds, a couple is being married by a pastor. Behind, beside, and over her is a crescent Moon, a garland of flowers, and an Owl. The Moon is marked "Dr. Harter's" and "Trade Mark" and the Owl sits in the initial "D" of the words "Dream Book." Beneath the Owl, inside the letter "D" is some sort of smiling sprite or leprechaun, who tips his hat at the viewer. Below this is a landscape, titled "Tam O'Shanter's Ride," based on the poem "Tam O'Shanter," written by the Scottish poet Robert Burns in 1790. In this image, Tam O'Shanter and his horse Meg gallop over the stone bridge of Doon by the abandoned church and graveyard at Alloway, as he looks back in terror at three female witches who fly through the air in pursuit and have seized the tail of the mare.
Cover 2 lists Dr. Harter's medicines, of which there are 12. Page 1 is an advertisement for Dr. Harter's Iron Tonic. Pages 2-4 contain a brief illustrated guide to "Palmistry." Page 5 is an advertisement for Dr. Harter's Little Liver Pills. Pages 6 and 7 comprise a monograph on "Dreams," illustrated with an engraving titled "Gen. XLI: 14, 15" -- in which Joseph interprets Pharaoh's troubling dream. Page 8 is an advertisement for Dr, Harter's Lung Balm. Pages 9 through 24 contain the dream book proper, with short interpretations and no lottery numbers. It is a bit old-fashioned for its era (no "railroad" or "steamship"), but is also not patterned on a British original (no "abbey" or "gibbet"), and it concludes with an advertisement for Dr. DuChoine's Nerve Pills.
Page 25 gives us customs of the New Moon, a spell employing a love letter as a personal concern, and a recipe for a love potion. Pages 26-27 contain "The Language of Flowers," a short work on floriography. This is followed by the "The Language of Gem Stones," which is attributed to the Tiffany Jewelry Co., and covers the topic of birthstones on pages 27-28. An advertisement for "family medicines" follows, and page 29 also presents a grouping of "Riddles." Pages 30-32, as well as cover 3, consist of advertisements for medicines that ameliorate female irregularities, menopause, kidney disorders, and gout.
catherine yronwode
curator, historian, and docent
Your Wate and Fate
Special thanks to my dear husband and creative partner nagasiva yronwode for illustrations, scans, and clean-ups.