Art of the Grimoire: An Illustrated History of Magic Books and Spells

by Owen Davies

A copiously illustrated global history of magic books, from ancient papyri to pulp paperbacks
 
Grimoires, textbooks of magic and occult knowledge, have existed through the ages alongside other magic and religious texts in part because of the need to create a physical record of magical phenomena, but also to enact magic through spells and rituals. To understand the history of these texts is to understand the influence of the major religions, the development of early science, the cultural influence of print, the growth of literacy, the social impact of colonialism, and the expansion of esoteric cultures across the oceans.
 
In more than two hundred color illustrations from ancient times to the present, renowned scholar Owen Davies examines little-studied artistic qualities of grimoires, revealing a unique world of design and imagination. The book takes a global approach, considering Egyptian and Greek papyri, ancient Chinese bamboo scripts, South American pulp prints, and Japanese demon encyclopedias, among other examples.
 
This book will enchant readers interested in the history of magic and science, as well as in book and manuscript history.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Art, Occult, Witchcraft, Magic, Medieval

256 pages, Hardcover

First published October 10, 2023

About the author

Owen Davies is a reader in Social History at the University of Hertfordshire. His main field of research is on the history of modern and contemporary witchcraft and magic.

His interest in the history of witchcraft and magic developed out of a childhood interest in folklore and mythology, which was spawned in part from reading the books of Alan Garner. From around the age of sixteen, he also became interested in archaeology and began to get involved with field-walking and earthwork surveying. He then went on to study archaeology and history at Cardiff University and he spent many weeks over the next six years helping excavate Bronze Age and Neolithic sites in France and England, mostly in the area around Avebury. He developed a strong interest in archaeology in general, and the ritual monuments and practices of the Neolithic and Bronze Age.

From Cardiff, he went on to write a doctorate at Lancaster University, working on a thesis looking at the continuation and decline of popular belief in witchcraft and magic from the Witchcraft Act 1735 to the Fraudulent Mediums Act 1951 (1991-1994).

Reviews

[ariana · Rating 4 out of 5]

This enchanted me just like they said it would! A very comprehensive, visual history of magic, science, the book, and manuscripts.

I’ll definitely be reading more of Davies to reign in this season of the witch!

[Juli Anna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautifully produced and informative, with some sources and information I haven't seen elsewhere.

[EuleAnnalena · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ich habe mittlerweile recht hohe Ansprüche an Infobüchern und dieses konnte mich nur halb überzeugen.

Die Organisation des Materials erschließt sich für mich nicht völlig. Mir hätte es glaube ich besser gefallen, wenn die Informationen chronologisch oder geographisch geordnet wären, aber das Buch orientiert sich an „Material“, was sehr verworren ist, da ja z.B. Papyrus, Pergament und Papier immer wieder Überschneidungen in der Geschichte hatten und auch an verschiedenen Orten zu verschiedenen Zeiten verwandt worden ist.
Außerdem geht ein großer Teil des Textes mehr auf die Geschichte des Buches als auf die Geschichte des Zauberbuches ein. Ich verstehe natürlich, dass das Hand in Hand geht, aber als jemand, der schon sehr viel über die Geschichte von Manuskriptkultur und co weiß, hätte ich mir mehr über diverse „magische“ Strömungen gewünscht.

Kleine Nit-picks: in meiner deutschen Ausgabe bricht der Text auf Seite 116 einfach ab. Ausgerechnet in einem Abschnitt den ich gerade spannend fand!
Auf Seite 135 scheint dann auch ein halber Satz verschluckt worden zu sein.
Auf Seite 188 hat wohl jemand vergessen, den englischen Originaltext ganz zu löschen xD
Hätte man da ein bisschen besser Korrekturlesen können?
Auch dazu: manchmal wurde z.B. der Name Salomon Salomo geschrieben und ich wusste nie, ob es sich um einen Tippfehler handelte oder nicht. Da ein bisschen Einheitlichkeit bitte!

[J · Rating 5 out of 5]

Pros:
- well. It's a book about historical books of magic. I don't know what more you want me to say
- not only does this discuss the books themselves, but also how they were made! We love facts about historical papers!
- with such visual pieces, it's always best to see them rather than just be told about them, and this book does live up to the "illustrated" in the subtitle
- the breadth of the book is worth mentioning, they go right up to modern day

Cons:
- so much of the information is provided in the captions of the images, and they do reference each other so there is a bit of flipping back and forth that has to happen
- if you are someone who doesn't like rereading books, I have bad news for you. This is so much dense information it will definitely take at least two passes to really absorb it all

Overall:
MAGIC BOOKS MAGIC BOOKS I LOVE MAGIC BOOOOKS

4.5/5

[Oscar · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really cool!!!

[Sesana · Rating 4 out of 5]

Absolutely stuffed with high quality, full cover images of grimoires, curses, spells, and magical texts throughout history. The writing is good, easy to follow, fairly in depth, and very interesting, but the images are definitely going to be the main draw for most reader. This feels like it would be a valuable reference text for authors and DMs working in historical and historically inspired settings.

[Chris Browning · Rating 5 out of 5]

Preferable to the Tarot book because Davies has a little more distance to the subject than Barbier has, probably because of his academic background. So it’s a sumptuous collection of images but with a slightly less dense and more thoughtful text to go along with it. A beautiful book

[Mackay · Rating 4 out of 5]

A beautiful book, lushly made, and a highly interesting one as well. Erudite and approachable.

[Ella · Rating 3 out of 5]

The text in this is nothing to write home about but the formatting and photographs are excellent. It’s at the very least a gorgeous coffee table book with occasionally quite erudite writing.

[S.K.G. Murphy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Unreal!

[Lu Castello · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved the layout, the socio- cultural brief commentary and the historical facts about the materials used of the Book.

I felt that it went from ancient cultures to colonial cultures of grimoires, and although it doesn't say it out loud, the central section is all about fraudsters who published bad copies of grimoire practices.

I liked the mention of more modern approaches to magic, but I wish there was more depth in the last few sections.

I hoped to see a not solely western approach to the topic, perhaps mention of cultures where magic is still practiced for non commercial using, to balance everything off.

all in all is well written, the artefacts are really interesting, well described and depicted.

[Mary · Rating 5 out of 5]

Stunning examination of the history of a certain category of esoteric writings. The book is especially gratifying with every page full of clear, full color, images of the referenced works. Add meticulous scholarship and it's an amazing read.

[Morgan · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 ⭐️
It was interesting enough