L. W. de Laurence

L. W. de Laurence (full name Lauron William de Laurence, also spelled DeLaurence 31 October 1868 – 11 September 1936) was an American author and publisher on occult and spiritual topics. His publications, including his edition of the Sixth and Seventh Books of Moses influenced the practise of magic among the African diaspora in the Americas, as well as in the Caribbean.

Early life
De Laurence was born in 1868 in Cleveland, Ohio. Laurence initially worked as a magnet healer and a hypnotist, travelling around Canada and the American Midwest where he achieved some prominence. He also worked for a time at a "school of suggestive theraputics". He published his first book in 1900, when he moved to Chicago.

De Laurence, Scott & Co.
His publishing company (De Laurence, Scott & Co.) and spiritual supply mail order house was located in Chicago, Illinois. De Laurence was a pioneer in the business of supplying magical and occult goods by mail order, and his distribution of public domain books, such as Secrets of the Psalms by Godfrey Selig and Pow Wows or the Long-Lost Friend by John George Hohman had a great and lasting effect on the African American urban hoodoo community in the southern United States, as well as on the development of Obeah in Jamaica.

De Laurence, Scott & Co had a reputation for pirating the books of other occultists. De Laurence also wrote his own works, including The Master Key, a personal development book. In addition, he is believed to have co-written some books with his fellow Chicago resident, the prolific New Thought and yoga author William Walker Atkinson.

In early 1930 he was consecrated a bishop by the Spiritualist Arthur Edward Leighton (1890–1963), a bishop of the American Catholic Church. His consecration influenced the move of some black spiritualist churches towards a more traditional view of Christianity. In the year of his death, 1936, he may have consecrated the first bishops for these churches, among them Thomas B. Watson (1898–1985) of New Orleans.

Death
De Laurence died in 1936.