• About
  • Music
    • Discography
    • Speculative Music
    • Hexadic System
    • Scores
  • Writing
    • Selected Bibliography
    • Psychogeographia Ruralis
    • Works in Progress
    • Presentations & Papers
  • Codings
    • LOAM (Locative Oral/Audio Media)
    • Almias
    • Active Notation
    • Zone2Midi
    • Spacious Mind
  • Press

Larkfall

~ Phil Legard

Larkfall

Monthly Archives: October 2018

Of Excellent Bookes, the Demiurge, Dreams and Autumn Musicke

12 Friday Oct 2018

Posted by larkfall in Announcements, Arcana

≈ 1 Comment

I am very pleased to say that Scarlet Imprint recently announced that they will be publishing An Excellent Book of the Art of Magic: The Magical Works of Humphrey Gilbert and John Davis. Here is their description, to whet your appetite:

The Excellent Booke and Visions – transcribed from British Library Additional manuscript 36674 – are edited and introduced by Phil Legard, with supplementary essays by Dr Alexander Cummins. The works are important documents of 16th century magical practice, preserving a detailed account of the making and the use of a grimoire. Practitioners may also be drawn to the relative simplicity of the rites contained within the Excellent Booke. Gilbert, and his scryer John Davis, reduced the complex rituals of necromancy to their essentials: the crystal stone, the scryer, the conjurations and the forceful imposition of the master’s will over the demons he seeks to constrain.

This is a volume that I have been working on, now and then, for quite some time: the project began circa 2013, originally intended for the late James Banner’s Trident Books, who I had collaborated with on an edition of John Dee’s Libellus Veneri Nigro Sacer in around 2011. I believed that Gilbert & Davis’ two articles – the first a magical grimoire, the second a detailed record of the visions experienced by the pair – were important for both scholars and practitioners. They present a rare record of ritual magic practice, predating Dee’s spiritual diaries by around two decades, and – moreso than the work of Dee – being grounded in the demonic magic of medieval necromancy, albeit a heavily Protestant reworking thereof.

Circa 1577, Sir Humphrey Gilbert (1537 – 1583).

However, the project foundered for a variety of reasons, and James was later overtaken by health issues. Fortunately, after reading my transcription, my friend Dr. Al Cummins shared my enthusiasm for the work, and we have both done a variety of articles and presentations on the subject over the last few years. For this edition, Al has completed three significant supplementary essays, exploring in detail the content and contexts of the Excellent Book and Visions.

An Excellent Book of the Art of Magic will, we hope, be released in the first half of 2019.

I must also take this opportunity to offer my profuse thanks to Peter & Alkistis for sending Layla and I a copy of Peter Mark Adams’ The Game of Saturn, and the accompanying Sola Busca tarot deck. First, let me say that the execution of both book and deck are impeccable: the book in particular is an incredible feat of design, with numerous colour images complementing the exemplary typesetting.

The Game of Saturn (photo by Scarlet Imprint)

Continue reading →

Recent Posts

  • 2020 Roundup – and a New Album…?
  • Lockdown Update
  • Meadow Mediumship
  • Materia Magica Nova: Towards a Critical Magic
  • Listen to the Voice of Fire – 15-16 March 2019

Larkfall Twitter

My Tweets

Hawthonn Twitter

My Tweets

Archives

  • February 2021
  • June 2020
  • April 2020
  • March 2020
  • February 2019
  • December 2018
  • October 2018
  • July 2018
  • March 2018
  • February 2018
  • December 2017
  • November 2017
  • October 2017
  • July 2017
  • June 2017
  • April 2017
  • March 2017
  • January 2017
  • December 2016
  • August 2016
  • June 2016
  • May 2016
  • January 2016
  • December 2015
  • November 2015
  • October 2015
  • August 2015
  • June 2015
  • May 2015
  • March 2015
  • December 2014
  • September 2014
  • June 2014
  • April 2014
  • March 2014
  • February 2014
  • December 2013
  • November 2013
  • September 2013
  • August 2013
  • July 2013
  • June 2013
  • May 2013
  • April 2013
  • March 2013
  • February 2013
  • January 2013
  • December 2012
  • November 2012
  • October 2012
  • August 2012
  • July 2012
  • June 2012
  • May 2012
  • April 2012

Categories

  • Almias
  • Announcements
  • Arcana
  • Blog
  • Hawthonn
  • IOSAS
  • Locative Media
  • Music and Theory
  • Uncategorized
  • XETB

Meta

  • Register
  • Log in
  • Entries feed
  • Comments feed
  • WordPress.com

Blogroll

  • Archivalia
  • Ruins or Books
  • Some Landscapes
  • Textiles and Music Interact
  • The Alchemical Landscape
  • Wyrd England Gazetteer

Download Apps

  • Almias
  • Holbeck Audio Walk

Friends

  • James Thurgill In:Sites
  • Seth Cooke

Personal

  • Academia.edu
  • Almias
  • LinkedIn
  • Tumblr
  • Twitter
  • XETB Bandcamp
  • XETB Facebook

Create a free website or blog at WordPress.com.

Privacy & Cookies: This site uses cookies. By continuing to use this website, you agree to their use.
To find out more, including how to control cookies, see here: Cookie Policy
  • Follow Following
    • Larkfall
    • Join 129 other followers
    • Already have a WordPress.com account? Log in now.
    • Larkfall
    • Customize
    • Follow Following
    • Sign up
    • Log in
    • Report this content
    • View site in Reader
    • Manage subscriptions
    • Collapse this bar
 

Loading Comments...