Grimoires: A History of Magic Books

Owen Davies

ISBN 10: 0199590044 / ISBN 13: 9780199590049

Published by Oxford University Press, 2010

About this Item

2010. 1st Edition. Paperback. The first ever history of magic books - or grimoires - from the ancient Middle East through to the modern day, from harmless charms and remedies to sinister pacts with the Devil. Num Pages: 384 pages, 27 black and white halftones, 17 black and white plates. BIC Classification: 1D; HBT; HRQX2. Category: (G) General (US: Trade). Dimension: 215 x 136 x 31. Weight in Grams: 492. . . . . .

Seller Inventory # V9780199590049

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Grimoires: A History of Magic Books
• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• Publication Date: 2010
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0199590044
• ISBN 13: 9780199590049
• Binding: Soft cover
• Edition: 1st Edition
• Condition: New

About this title

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.