Synopses & Reviews
What is a grimoire? The word has a familiar ring to many people, particularly as a consequence of such popular television dramas as Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Charmed. But few people are sure exactly what it means.
Put simply, grimoires are books of spells that were first recorded in the Ancient Middle East and which have developed and spread across much of the Western Hemisphere and beyond over the ensuing millennia. At their most benign, they contain charms and remedies for natural and supernatural ailments and advice on contacting spirits to help find treasures and protect from evil. But at their most sinister they provide instructions on how to manipulate people for corrupt purposes and, worst of all, to call up and make a pact with the Devil. Both types have proven remarkably resilient and adaptable and retain much of their relevance and fascination to this day.
But the grimoire represents much more than just magic. To understand the history of grimoires is to understand the spread of Christianity, the development of early science, the cultural influence of the print revolution, the growth of literacy, the impact of colonialism, and the expansion of western cultures across the oceans. As this book richly demonstrates, the history of grimoires illuminates many of the most important developments in European history over the last two thousand years.
Review
"Among the many pleasures of reading Davies' book is the simple, shiver-producing enjoyment of scanning the rich, ominous-sounding titles that he catalogs in the course of charting their historical development."--Nick Owchar, Los Angeles Times
"The history of superstition becomes, in this excellent and nuanced volume, a history of the uses of disdain...True bibliophiles will enjoy Davies' erudite tracing of the grimoires tradition through two millennia of faked dates, spurious authorship and pretended translations from the 'original' Latin or Hebrew or even Chaldaean. Other readers may skip ahead to Davies' fascinating account of the 'democratisation' of grimoires in the 19th and 20th centuries."--Michael Ostling, History Today
"An amazing achievement, not just for its depth of research but its breadth, from Massachusetts to Martinique to Mauritius. It must become the classic work on the subject."--Ronald Hutton, author of The Triumph of the Moon: A History of Pagan Witchcraft
"In Grimoires, British social historian Owen Davies examines magical texts from Babylonia through Buffy the Vampire Slayer, finding connections between conjuration, religion, science and politics...In a work of cogent synthesis, Davies shows that grimoires have played a role in everything from murder to imaginative fiction, anti-colonial movements to quack remedies."--David Luhrssen, Shepherd Express
"The extent of Davies' study is impressive, countering assumptions a curious reader might have taken for granted."--Newark Star-Ledger
"You will adore Owen Davies' Grimoires and hang on his every word as you journey with him through the long history of magical works as they evolved from clay tablets and scrolls, to hand written manuscripts, and eventually into printed books. Grimoires: A History of Magic Books is extremely valuable as an historical work covering the lesser known histories of the authors, publishers, and practitioners of magic who influenced the evolution of magic explaining the origins of all the differing types of magic practiced today."--Pagan Bookworm
Synopsis
No books have been more feared than grimoires, and no books have been more valued and revered. In Grimoires: A History of Magic Books, Owen Davies illuminates the many fascinating forms these recondite books have taken and exactly what these books held. At their most benign, these repositories of forbidden knowledge revealed how to make powerful talismans and protective amulets, and provided charms and conjurations for healing illness, finding love, and warding off evil. But other books promised the power to control innocent victims, even to call up the devil. Davies traces the history of this remarkably resilient and adaptable genre, from the ancient Middle East to modern America, offering a new perspective on the fundamental developments of western civilization over the past two thousand years. Grimoires shows the influence magic and magical writing has had on the cultures of the world, richly demonstrating the role they have played in the spread of Christianity, the growth of literacy, and the influence of western traditions from colonial times to the present.
Synopsis
No books have been more feared than grimoires, and no books have been more valued and revered. In Grimoires: A History of Magic Books, Owen Davies illuminates the many fascinating forms these recondite books have taken and exactly what these books held. At their most benign, these repositories of forbidden knowledge revealed how to make powerful talismans and protective amulets, and provided charms and conjurations for healing illness, finding love, and warding off evil. But other books promised the power to control innocent victims, even to call up the devil. Davies traces the history of this remarkably resilient and adaptable genre, from the ancient Middle East to modern America, offering a new perspective on the fundamental developments of western civilization over the past two thousand years. Grimoires shows the influence magic and magical writing has had on the cultures of the world, richly demonstrating the role they have played in the spread of Christianity, the growth of literacy, and the influence of western traditions from colonial times to the present.
Synopsis
No books have been more feared than grimoires, and no books have been more valued and revered. In Grimoires: A History of Magic Books, Owen Davies illuminates the many fascinating forms these recondite books have taken and exactly what these books held. At their most benign, these repositories of forbidden knowledge revealed how to make powerful talismans and protective amulets, and provided charms and conjurations for healing illness, finding love, and warding off evil. But other books promised the power to control innocent victims, even to call up the devil. Davies traces the history of this remarkably resilient and adaptable genre, from the ancient Middle East to modern America, offering a new perspective on the fundamental developments of western civilization over the past two thousand years. Grimoires shows the influence magic and magical writing has had on the cultures of the world, richly demonstrating the role they have played in the spread of Christianity, the growth of literacy, and the influence of western traditions from colonial times to the present.
About the Author
Owen Davies is Reader in Social History at the University of Hertfordshire. His previous books include
The Haunted: A Social History of Ghosts;
Murder, Magic, Madness: The Victorian Trials of Dove and the Wizard; and
Cunning-folk: Popular Magic in English History.
Table of Contents
Introduction
1. Spells from the east
2. Conjuring clergy
3. War against magic
4. Enlightenment and treasure
5. Crossing the oceans
6. Rediscovering ancient magic
7. Grimoires USA
8. Pulp magic
9. Reinventing the grimoire
Conclusion
Notes
Index
Introduction