Unusual Book Title

[barrywood]

The Unholy Bible - by D. E. Vil. Signed. Presented in limited, hot-red covers.

Can you think of one?

[Cyril Tourneur]

well it's not that unusual but currently i'd kill for this edition


The Grimoire of the Golden Toad
Special edition: 3 copies only, hand-bound in full black calf-skin, silvered endpapers, front cover inset with a toad's head and toadskin leather panelling on the rear. Each copy was accompanied by a sealed envelope containing card, talisman, bone and thorn. Issued for internal distribution only.

[the_havoc_man]

That is a crazy book with contents. So what is that book about?

Quote Originally Posted by Cyril Tourneur

well it's not that unusual but currently i'd kill for this edition The Grimoire of the Golden Toad Special edition: 3 copies only, hand-bound in full black calf-skin, silvered endpapers, front cover inset with a toad's head and toadskin leather panelling on the rear. Each copy was accompanied by a sealed envelope containing card, talisman, bone and thorn. Issued for internal distribution only.

[Cyril Tourneur]

it's a book by andrew chumbley, deceased magister of the cultus sabbati...his books sell even higher than tom's...


X O A N O N Back Catalogue

[The New Nonsense]

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That is a crazy book with contents. So what is that book about?

Chumbley's books are about magick; specifically, Sabbatic witchcraft. His other books, The Azoetia, and Qutub are magickal grimoires that contain spells, magickal sigils, rites and the general practice of the Cultus Sabbati, a group that follows the "crooked path", as it's called -- neither the left hand path nor the right (black & white magick, respectively), but weaves in-between the two. What makes The Grimoire of the Golden Toad unique (besides its scarcity -- only 77 copies printed) is that it's only about one specific spell or ritual; the solitary initiation of the so-called 'Toad-witch' and the creation of the toad-bone amulet. Legend has it, the wearer of the toad-bone amulet is granted immense magickal power. This is why the book is so sought after.

[Aetherwing]

That IS quite interesting, as a curiosity if nothing else. I am not a believer of such things, but obviously still find them ghoulishly interesting.

Here's one that is pretty neat:

POW-WOWS: or THE LONG-LOST FRIEND
Attributed to a John George Hoffman, 1820



"Written by a Pennsylvania Dutch healer in the 1820s, this book is a rambling collection of rural home remedies and folk invocations. Pow-wow is a unique creole of Christian theology and a shamanistic belief system. It is still practiced in some rural areas of Pennsylvania. In spite of the name, it is not of Native American derivation. It is believed to have been brought over to America by German immigrants who practiced folk-magic.
This little book includes healing spells, binding spells, protective spells, talismans, wards and benedictions. As for the home remedies, we don't recommend you try any of them (e.g., if you have scurvy we suggest that you get some limes. And if your livestock are sick, please have a veterinarian look at them.) The text is also of historical interest, as it paints a vivid picture of the miseries of rural American life in the early nineteenth century. The original is very rare."

Manly Wade Wellman used it as his "Necronomicon in many of his John the Minstrel tales.

If any of you ever DO secure a copy of your Toad-Grimoire, I'd love to see pics!

Regards,
-Aether

[The New Nonsense]

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Here's one that is pretty neat: POW-WOWS: or THE LONG-LOST FRIEND Attributed to a John George Hoffman, 1820

I have a copy of POW-WOWS: or THE LONG-LOST FRIEND -- not an 1820 edition, but a more recent one. It's a classic folk-magick text; right up there with THE BLACK PULLET. POW-WOWS is basically a grimoire of spells and conjurations used in backwoods witchcraft and hoodoo (not to be confused with voodoo). It contains a lot of Pennsylvania Dutch folk-magickal remedies like: how to keep your cows from going dry, to ward off the evil eye, or the casting of hexes.

I'm really fascinated by Pennsylvania Dutch hex signs. Last weekend I picked up the book, HEX AND SPELLWORK: THE MAGICAL PRACTICES OF THE PENNSYLVANIA DUTCH by Karl Herr. It looks really good.

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If any of you ever DO secure a copy of your Toad-Grimoire, I'd love to see pics!

I'm hoping Xoanon Publishing will reprint it someday. They've re-printed Chumbley's AZOETIA, so it's possible. I'd love to add it to my Chumbley/Sabbatic witchcraft collection.