
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...

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,...