Grimoires: A History of Magic Books

Grimoires: A History of Magic Books traces the history of books of spells from ancient and medieval sources to their modern afterlives. Owen Davies examines charms, remedies, divination, spirit contact, treasure-seeking and the darker traditions associated with demonic pacts, treating these as recorded beliefs and practices rather than established fact.

The book places magical texts within wider social history, considering Christianity’s opposition to magic, the development of early science, the print revolution, rising literacy and colonial expansion. Later chapters follow the rediscovery of ancient magic, the circulation of grimoires in the United States, pulp occult publishing, and the influence of Lovecraft, Satanic imagery and shadowy supernatural traditions.