(XI.) HISTORY - Into the Twentieth Century

A Biography of Alan Leo by Margaret E. Hone, from her book The Modern Text Book of Astrology, 1951.:

THE TURN OF THE CENTURY

1860-1917. William Frederick Allan (Alan Leo)

This man must be acclaimed as the father of modern astrology.

Working with his wife and a devoted group of friends, he travelled all over England, lecturing on astrology. He edited the magazine Modern Astrology and was an indefatigable worker as a professional astrologer. His major achievement was the writing of thirty books, in which he made a complete restatement of astrology. From now on, the emphasis lay on the study of the human being, events in his life being shown to be largely, though not entirely, consequent on his own character.

In 1915, he founded the Astrological Lodge of London, which still carries on the spirit of his teaching. The high principles of Alan Leo and his understanding of the ancient wisdom through theosophical teachings, gave pure astrology an ethical status and lifted it away from fortune-telling and commercialism. Through the world-wide ramifications of the Theosophical Society, his books and teachings spread to all countries.

Alan Leo's work has long been out of print, and was republished in the 1960s and 1970s in England.

Two books recommended by your author, if you can find them are How to Judge a Nativity and Art of Synthesis.

The second book, Art of Synthesis was originally named How to Judge a Nativity, Part II. When Leo revised these books, which were also part of a series he titled the "Astrology for All" series, he added additional material and a more esoteric rendering of most of the chapters. Students were delighted and the book sold really well, having more reflections of his popular Esoteric Astrology and Theosophic ideas. This prompted Leo to revise it yet again, and this second revision resulted in a new name, as the book no longer resembled a mere continuation of the first work.