The Three Books

2024 Hardcover Reprint of the three Grimoires bound into one volume. This omnibus edition reprints the three great magical works of King Solomon in one volume. The Key of Solomon the King was originally researched and translated by S.L. MacGregor Mathers from ancient manuscripts in the British museums. The work is traditionally divided into two books detailing the Key of King Solomon. The Lesser Key of Solomon [1904], or the Clavicula Salomonis Regis, or Lemegeton, is a compilation of materials and writings from ancient sources making up a text book of magic or "grimoire." Portions of this book can be traced back to the mid-16th to 17th centuries, when occult researchers such as Cornelius Agrippa and Johannes Trithemisus assembled what they discovered during their investigations into ancient texts. The Greater Key [1914] lists and describes a variety of purifications an exorcist should undergo. Instructions are given on clothing, magical devices, and even animal sacrifices. The Testament of Solomon [1898] is attributed to King Solomon of the Old Testament. Written in the first-person narrative, the book tells the story of the creation of the magical ring of King Solomon and how Solomon's ring was used to bind and control demons, including Beelzebub. The manuscripts from which this work was discovered date from the 15th, 16th, and 17th centuries. All were written in Greek. This dating makes most experts believe that the work is medieval. But some scholars argue that it is likely that the work comes from the 5th or 6th centuries. Regardless of the dates, these texts provide an immensely interesting description of how King Solomon tamed various demons to build his temple. The text includes predictions of the coming of Christ, as one demon explains to Solomon that while he may be bound, the only thing that can truly take his power away is the man born from a virgin who will be crucified by the Jews.

"I've been told that this is the most elegant thing I've ever written. I can't think how such a dark brew of motifs came together to create that effect. But there's unassuaged longing and nostalgia in here, interwoven with the horror, as well as an unflagging drive towards the final consummation. I still feel more for the story's characters, whether love or loathing, than for any others I've created to date. Tragedy, urban legend, Gothic romance, warped fairy tale of New York: it's all there. And of course, most important of all is the seductive allure of writing and of books - and what that can lead some people to do. You may not like my answer to the mystery of the third book. But I hope you stay to find out."

This book includes 1 Enoch: The Ethiopic Book of Enoch; 2 Enoch: The Slavonic Book of the Secrets of Enoch; 3 Enoch: The Hebrew Book of Enoch; and versions of the Book of Giants. The 1st Book of Enoch, the Ethiopic Book of Enoch, or 1 Enoch is more known as simply the Book of Enoch. Although this book is considered apocryphal for the Western canon, it is contained in the Ethiopic Bible. It was considered sacred by some important first followers of Christ but it was left out of the Bible and disappeared for centuries until it was rediscovered in 1773 in Ethiopic. This manuscript was first translated into English in the 1820s and into German in the 1830s. According to most scholars, part of it was written in third century BCE and part of it in the first century CE (the part related to the Son of Man). Although the oldest complete copies of 1 Enoch are K-9 or Kebran 9, dated late fourteenth early fifteenth century and Ethiopian Monastic Microfilm Library (EMML 2080) of the fifteenth or fourteenth century, fragments found in Qumram in the 1950s are more than 2000 years old. Other old important manuscripts are Abbadianus 55 (possibly fifteenth century) and British Museum Orient 485 (first half of the sixteenth century). The 2nd Book of Enoch, the Slavonic Enoch, or 2 Enoch, is another apocryphal book, found complete only in Old Slavonic manuscripts, and it was once present in the Old Slavonic Bible. It's usually dated to the first century CE although Matthew Black in The Oxford Guide to People & Places of the Bible state that there is no manuscript "earlier than the fourteenth century BE." The 3rd Book of Enoch, the Hebrew Enoch, or 3 Enoch, is a Rabbinic text originally written in Hebrew usually dated to the fifth century CE. Some experts believe it was written by Rabbi Ishmael (second century CE), familiar with both 1 Enoch and 2 Enoch. The Book of Giants contains a narrative that involves the antediluvian giant offspring originally known from both the Genesis and the Book of Enoch. The Book of Giants resembles particularly 1 Enoch: The First Book of Enoch.

The Bell Bandit: Siblings Evan and Jessie must solve the mystery of a missing cherished family treasure while coming to terms with their beloved grandmother's unsettling behavior.

This trade paperback volume contains both The Key of Solomon the King (The Greater Key) and The Lesser Key of Solomon, including all of the original illustrations, diagrams and annotations to aid the reader in their understanding of the Solomon Key. The Key of Solomon the King was originally researched and translated by S.L. MacGregor Mathers from ancient manuscripts in the British museums. Included by Mathers is the Order of the Pentacles of Solomon, the Ancient Fragment of the Key of Solomon, The Qabalistic Invocation of Solomon, and 15 plates full of figures, seals and charts, as well as the original text giving detailed instruction for spells and invocations. The work is traditionally divided into two books detailing the Key of King Solomon. Book One explains the operation of conjurations, curses, spells and other magical works. Book Two instructs the practitioner on the proper attire, purification rituals and other means of obtaining the goals of the Goetia. Between these two books is the list of plates that contain numerous illustrations and secret seals of Solomon, including the Mystical Seal of Solomon, the Pentacles of Solomon, and the Mystical Alphabet, which impart the mechanisms and requirements for the invocation of spirits and demons. The Lesser Key of Solomon, or the Clavicula Salomonis Regis, or Lemegeton, is a compilation of materials and writings from ancient sources making up a text book of magic or "grimoire." Portions of this book can be traced back to the mid-16th to 17th centuries, when occult researchers such as Cornelius Agrippa and Johannes Trithemisus assembled what they discovered during their investigations into their own great works. As a modern grimoire, the Lesser Key of Solomon has seen several editions with various authors and editors taking liberty to edit and translate the ancient writings and source material. In 1898, Arthur Edward Waite published his The Book of Black Magic and of Pacts, which contained large portions of the Lemegeton. He was followed by Mathers and Crowley in 1904 who published The Goetia: The Lesser Key of Solomon. Many others have assembled their own version of this ancient material since, and it is important to realize that it is the contents rather than the book itself that make up the Lesser Key. Traditionally, the source material is divided into five books: Ars Goetia, Ars Theurgia Goetia, Ars Paulina, Ars Almadel, and Ars Notoria. Mathers and Crowley indicate their edition is a translation of the first. In the preface to this edition, it is explained that a "Secret Chief" of the Rosicrucian Order directed the completion of the book. The original editor was a G. H. Fra. D.D.C.F. who translated ancient texts from French, Hebrew, and Latin, but was unable to complete his labors because of the martial assaults of the Four Great Princes. Crowley was then asked to step in and finish what the previous author had begun. Traditionally, S. L. MacGregor Mathers is credited as the translator of this edition, and Crowley is given the title of editor. Scholars believe these books of Solomon and their many iterations derive from the ancient practices of Jewish Kabbalah and Arab Alchemy. After time, it is thought Greek and Roman influences were added until, finally, the work was used and molded by high Renaissance magicians. This book, as well as other King Solomon books, such as the Magical Treatise of King Solomon and the Testament of Solomon, were brought back to modern times through the labors of occult practitioners such as S. L. MacGregor Mathers, Aleister Crowley and others around the turn of the last century.

Graphically gorgeous, with sweetness and flair, this is a book to get any kid hooked on the wonders of the water cycle!