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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 ailmentsand 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 adaptableand 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 westerncultures 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.… (more)
User reviews
It's an interesting read, but I spent most of the book wishing for more detail. As it's written, it's hard to tell if the details aren't known, or if Davies didn't find them important enough to include. The scope of the book is ambitious enough that no one topic or period gets a lot of attention, but Davies doesn't take the time to be clear, either, when he's referring to a book with the same title in different ages, whether it's indeed the same book - there are hints that it is not, always, and these suggest that Davies knows more than he's sharing with the reader. It's hard not to find that off-putting. Anyone hoping based on the back cover copy for an in-depth discussion of magical books in late twentieth and early twenty-first century popular culture will be disappointed, as that's relegated to a few dismissive, incomplete, and possibly badly-researched paragraphs in an epilogue.
By far the most irritating thing about this book, though, is the failures in editing. There are multiple instances of misused words and other typographical errors throughout. One expects better from Oxford University Press.
Following a timeline, it begins with the first grimoires, the Graeco-Egyptian papyri. Egypt was thought to be the birthplace of all magic, making its mark in every grimoire, secret
But what was the purpose of a grimoire? Some focused on the magician's desires, others were medicinal or to safely hunt for treasure. While it was the power of the written word that made the grimoire, there were often stipulations for ink, parchment, or the material used to bind it. They found their way to Iceland, Toledo, Geneva, and even Canada! But in France (Affair of the Poisons?) the printing of grimoires exploded. The “Petit Albert” is the most notorious, then the “Dragon Rouge” emerged during the French Revolution. My favorite chapters were about the creolization of grimoires and their incorporation into African (through colonization) and PA Dutch folk practices. But thanks to an adaptable format and no single authorship, the grimoire survived book burnings, witch hunts and even Nazi Germany. As Davies rightly puts it: “There is no sign of these books being closed for good.”
This is a MASSIVE sprawling history
SO MUCH INFORMATION. A reference I'll be happy to keep on my shelves.