Numbers

"SEVEN years have passed since this essay was written, and the
MSS. pages have been lent to many friends and students of
mystic lore and occult meanings. It is only at the earnest request
of these kindly critics that I have consented to publish this
volume. The contents are necessarily of a fragmentary character,
and have been collected from an immense number of sources;
the original matter has been intentionally reduced to the least
possible quantity, so as to obtain space for the inclusion of the
utmost amount of ancient, quaint and occult learning. It is
impossible to give even an approximate list of works which have
been consulted; direct quotations have been acknowledged in
numerous instances, and (perhaps naturally) many a statement
might have been equally well quoted from the book of a
contemporary author, a mediæval monk, a Roman historian, a
Greek poet, or a Hindoo Adept: to give the credit to the modern
author would not be fair to the ancient sage, to refer the reader to
a Sanskrit tome would be in most cases only loss of time and
waste of paper. My great difficulty has been to supply
information mystic enough to match the ideal of the work, and
yet not so esoteric as to convey truths which Adepts have still
concealed. William Wynn Westcott"