The Key of Solomon the King: Clavicula Salomonis

By S.L. MacGregor Mathers

Book Overview

"IN presenting this celebrated magical work to the student of occult science some few prefatory remarks are necessary. The Key of Solomon, save for a curtailed and incomplete copy published in France in the seventeenth century, has never yet been printed, but has for centuries remained in Manuscript form inaccessible to all but the few fortunate scholars to whom the inmost recesses of the great libraries were open. I therefore consider that I am highly honoured in being the individual to whose lot it has fallen to usher it into the light of day. The fountain-head and storehouse of Qabalistical Magic, and the origin of much of the Ceremonial Magic of mediaeval times, the 'Key' has been ever valued by occult writers as a work of the highest authority; and notably in our own day Eliphaz L vi has taken it for the model on which his celebrated 'Dogme et Rituel de la Haute Magie' was based. It must be evident to the initiated reader of Levi, that the Key of Solomon was his text book of study, and at the end of this volume I give a fragment of an ancient Hebrew manuscript of the 'Key of Solomon, ' translated and published in the 'Philosophie Occulte, ' as well as an Invocation called the 'Qabalistical Invocation of Solomon, ' which bears close analogy to one in the First Book, being constructed in the same manner on the scheme of the Sephiroth. S. L. MacGregor Mathers"

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1916923410
• ISBN13: 9781916923416
• Release Date: January 2025
• Publisher: Yesterday's World Publishing
• Length: 110 Pages
• Weight: 0.70 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.3" x 6.0" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

This edition has stood the test of time

This Red Wheel/Weiser edition sets a standard for high quality and low cost. It faithfully reproduces Mathers' original text, and includes a new introduction by modern author R.A. Gilbert.The Key of Solomon is the most famous and important of all Grimoires, or handbooks of Magic. As A.E. Waite has stated (BCM 58) "At the head of all, and, within certain limits, the inspiration and the source of all, stands the Key of Solomon. ... Mr. Mathers' presentation of the Key of Solomon, which is still in print, though the work of an uncritical hand, must be held to remove the necessity for entering into a detailed account of the contents of that curious work. ... The Key of Solomon can scarcely be judged accurately in the light of its English version, for the translator, preternaturally regarding it as a highly honourable memorial of lawful magic, has excised as much as possible the Goëtic portions, on the ground that they are interpolations, which is of course arbitrary." Mr. Waite's harsh criticism is hardly justified. In fact, Mathers excised very little. Actually, three of the four significant excisions are operations dealing with love magic (Colorno, chapters 11-13: The experiment of Love, and how it should be performed; The experiment or operation of the Apple; Of the operation of love by her dreams, and how one must practice it. The fourth large excision is chapter 14: Operations and experiments regarding hate and destruction of enemies.) He also omitted one paragraph from the chapter dealing with the use of blood. Mathers also substituted Hebrew for the Latin biblical passages on the pentacles.It is true that the Mathers edition would not be considered critical by modern standards of scholarship (but Waite's editions of various esoteric texts leave far more to be desired than Mathers'). Especially wanting are a proper critical apparatus, an analysis of the relation between manuscripts, and better utilization of the Latin and Italian manuscripts. Nevertheless, this edition has stood the test of time. Mathers' translation is almost entirely dependant on French Colorno manuscript exemplars dating 18th century. Abraham Colorno, a Jewish engineer of Mantua (fl. 1578-1598) apparently translated it from the Italian. Mathers was well qualified to translate French texts, but it is not clear how proficient he was in the other languages represented. In the introduction he acknowledged Westcott's help with the Hebrew.Also heavily used by Mathers was LES VÉRITABLES CLAVICULES DE SALOMON, Traduites de l'Hebreux en langue Latine Par le Rabin ABOGNAZAR (Lansdowne MSS 1203.) Its inclusion by Mathers is puzzling because it is utterly different in content from the other manuscripts (aside from a few of the pentacles at the end of the manuscript) and really should stand alone as a separate text.Since Mathers' edition was published, many more manuscripts have been uncovered, including several English manuscripts, three Hebrew manuscripts (including one published by Go

This edition has stood the test of time

This Red Wheel/Weiser edition sets a standard for high quality and low cost. It faithfully reproduces Mathers' original text, and includes a new introduction by modern author R.A. Gilbert.The Key of Solomon is the most famous and important of all Grimoires, or handbooks of Magic. As A.E. Waite has stated (BCM 58) "At the head of all, and, within certain limits, the inspiration and the source of all, stands the Key of Solomon. ... Mr. Mathers' presentation of the Key of Solomon, which is still in print, though the work of an uncritical hand, must be held to remove the necessity for entering into a detailed account of the contents of that curious work. ... The Key of Solomon can scarcely be judged accurately in the light of its English version, for the translator, preternaturally regarding it as a highly honourable memorial of lawful magic, has excised as much as possible the Goëtic portions, on the ground that they are interpolations, which is of course arbitrary." Mr. Waite's harsh criticism is hardly justified. In fact, Mathers excised very little. Actually, three of the four significant excisions are operations dealing with love magic (Colorno, chapters 11-13: The experiment of Love, and how it should be performed; The experiment or operation of the Apple; Of the operation of love by her dreams, and how one must practice it. The fourth large excision is chapter 14: Operations and experiments regarding hate and destruction of enemies.) He also omitted one paragraph from the chapter dealing with the use of blood. Mathers also substituted Hebrew for the Latin biblical passages on the pentacles.It is true that the Mathers edition would not be considered critical by modern standards of scholarship (but Waite's editions of various esoteric texts leave far more to be desired than Mathers'). Especially wanting are a proper critical apparatus, an analysis of the relation between manuscripts, and better utilization of the Latin and Italian manuscripts. Nevertheless, this edition has stood the test of time. Mathers' translation is almost entirely dependant on French Colorno manuscript exemplars dating 18th century. Abraham Colorno, a Jewish engineer of Mantua (fl. 1578-1598) apparently translated it from the Italian. Mathers was well qualified to translate French texts, but it is not clear how proficient he was in the other languages represented. In the introduction he acknowledged Westcott's help with the Hebrew.Also heavily used by Mathers was LES VÉRITABLES CLAVICULES DE SALOMON, Traduites de l'Hebreux en langue Latine Par le Rabin ABOGNAZAR (Lansdowne MSS 1203.) Its inclusion by Mathers is puzzling because it is utterly different in content from the other manuscripts (aside from a few of the pentacles at the end of the manuscript) and really should stand alone as a separate text.Since Mathers' edition was published, many more manuscripts have been uncovered, including several English manuscripts, three Hebrew manuscripts (including one published by

The First and Best

This is perhaps the greatest and most important grimoire ever written, the book which all other grimoires were based on. Mathers' edition is spectacular due to his understanding of Hebrew and the vast amount of research put into this edition. This book should be in the library of every student of magic and the occult, whether your interest is pureley academic or if it extends to practice of magic.

Great Grimoire for All Serious Occultists!

I'll try to make this short and sweet. The Key of Solomon the King is probably the greatest introductory Grimoire for any Occultist interested in invocation or evocation. It's a bit dry, at times, but it surely gets the point across even to the beginner. I do have one word of warning for anyone who buys ANY Grimoire or work dealing Magick at all. That warning is this: Though a lot of Magick comes from inside, summonings and evocations DO deal with true, objective entities. Many New Agers or Psychoccultists will tell you that it's all "in your mind" and you're only harnassing yourself. Don't let yourself be diluted into believing that. There are some beings out there that exist whether we want them to or not. Be cautious in your Magick and follow the Middle Pillar.

It is an amasing work of research and of translation.

This is what I call TRUE MAGIK. This kind of books ilustrate what Magick was, and what Magick is. I admire the author for his work. Of course Samuel L. McGreagor Mathers was an expert on the Magical subjects. Obviously that this book is different from those "new age" garbage that are well fashioned now. This book contain the most excelent description of how to summon and control entities from other realms of existence. Anyhow the student should be wise enough to read this book by the light of the time it was first written. I take the liberty to advise the book Elemetar Treatise on Practical Magick, Papus. It teaches the importance of how to use this knoledge in ower days. EXECELENT WORK.