Grimoires : A History of Magic Books, Paperback by Davies, Owen, Brand New, F...

Grimoires : A History of Magic Books, Paperback by Davies, Owen, ISBN 0199590044, ISBN-13 9780199590049, Brand New, Free shipping in the USNo books have been more feared than grimoires, and no books have been more valued and revered. In <em>Grimoires: A History of Magic Books</em>, Owen Davies illuminates the many fascinating forms these recondits have taken and exactly what thess held. At their most benign, these repositories<br>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<br>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. <em>Grimoires</em> shows the influence magic and magical writing has had on the cultures of the<br>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.<br>