THE PRE-CHRISTIAN USE OF INCENSE IN DIVINE WORSHIP (H/B) by E. G. Cuthbert Atchley, Edited by Allan Armstrong

The Pre-Christian use of Incense in Divine Worship is concerned with the role of incense in religious and magical ceremonies, both private and public. The author explores the use of incense in much of the ancient world as we know it; how for some five thousand years or more incense was and is still, universally accepted and one of the blessings of life, not only in ceremonial work but also in secular life.

Drawn from a larger work concerning the historical use of incense in religious ceremonial, The Pre-Christian use of Incense in Divine Worship was written in the opening years of the 20th century by Edward Godfrey Cuthbert Frederick Atchley (1869–1945), a distinguished liturgical scholar associated with the Alcuin Club.

His investigation is a fascinating and enlightening exploration of the historical evidence for the widespread use of incense in religious and magical ceremonial and is as relevant today as it was a century of more ago. Although it is rue to say that there are many fine books written on this subject, it is nevertheless, arguably, the most definitive work on this subject available.